


Genji and Six

by boundtoanandroid



Series: Cecil's Thirst Knows No End [10]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Eventual Smut, Fluff and Angst, Gen, M/M, Smut, magical au where everyone works at overwatch, this shit is so gay, with exception of the talon characters
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-27
Updated: 2017-08-06
Packaged: 2018-10-24 15:34:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 15
Words: 46,901
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10744602
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/boundtoanandroid/pseuds/boundtoanandroid
Summary: The chronicles of a cyborg ninja and his mercenary boyfriend, from when they met to when they re-met, to when they both  became cyborgs.Written as NaNoWriMo for November 2016.





	1. First Meeting

**Author's Note:**

> HOLY SHIT I'M NOT DEAD
> 
> k so imma let yall know now, six is my self insert oc. i have no shame. and yes, he is pretty much my new vegas self insert, i was too lazy to come up w anything else so we got this. 
> 
> enjoy this nonsense

Wiping the blood off of his helmet’s goggles, the Courier sighed as he looked down at the bodies of the yakuza group he had been sent to eliminate. The job was finished, and he was stuck in Japan for another two days with nothing to do. With irritation in his eyes, he pulled out the Mojave’s calling cards and tossed six of them around the pile of bleeding mobsters, claiming the job as his. 

“Now what the hell am I supposed to do?” He muttered to himself, balancing on the balls of his feet as he knelt down and began picking through whatever loot the mobsters had left behind. 

As a member of the Mojave Express, an underground mercenary service that typically dealt with delicate deliveries and taking out unwanted figures, this mission was nothing new to him. He was kind of pissed about being sent to a country halfway across the world just to take out his targets on the first god damned day. Especially since he was one of the only agents who could travel internationally due to his proficiency in learning and speaking languages. Pausing his digging, he rang up his boss before going back to looting. The line rang once, twice, three times before someone picked it up. 

“Courier Six, reporting in.” He muttered. 

“Six, what is it? Did you arrive safely?” His boss answered, chipper as usual. His boss was unusually cheerful for someone in the mercenary business.

“Sure did, Yes Man. Got a problem, though.” Six’s voice became more and more bitter by the end of his sentence. “I’m finished.”

“What? You just landed an hour ago.” Yes Man sounded confused, causing Six to groan.

“I know. They were waiting for me at the airport. Managed to get them out of the public eye and offed ‘em in a warehouse.” He pulled a full ammo clip out of one of the mobsters’ inner coat pockets. “Can we reschedule my flight so I can go home tonight?”

“Uh, I don’t think so, Six. So sorry!” 

Six grinded his teeth in irritation, trying not to let the boss know exactly how pissed he was. No point in upsetting the boss. “What do you mean?”

“The next available flight back to Vegas is in two days. We can try and check other airlines, but there are only a handful that are willing to fly us, and that’s only because we bribe them!” Yes Man chuckled awkwardly. “Look, we can up your pay for finishing the mission early, but I’m afraid we can’t get you home right now.”

Six sighed. “That pay better be good, Yes Man.”

“Oh, it will be! Say, I’m pretty sure we have allies in Hanamura. That should be about an hour away from Osaka.” 

“We seriously have allies in Japan?” Six deadpanned. “Why? We’re US based.”

“They’re the ones who contracted us for this job. The Shimada clan, if you’ve heard of them. Tell them you’re with the Couriers and they’ll give you anything you need.” Yes Man paused, and Six could hear papers shuffling through the receiver. “I’ll give them a call and let them know you’re coming, and I’ll upload the coordinates to your Pip-Boy.”

Six sighed. “Fine. Just make damn sure my flight isn’t delayed.”

Yes Man chuckled nervously. “Sure thing, Six. Have fun while you’re there! Consider this a mini vacation!” Six could hear the grin in his voice before he hung up. He groaned before fully standing and gathering his things. He paused before he left, remembering all of the blood staining his duster and uniform. Turning and examining the warehouse, he found a side room with the lights on, and upon investigation, he discovered it was a locker room. Perfect.

He unlocked the straps on his Pip-Boy and slid the device off his forearm and set it on one of the metal benches, flicking on recordings of Radio New Vegas before attending to his uniform. He discarded the duffle bag on his shoulders onto the floor, not caring much as it clanged loudly on the floor. Pulling off his helmet, he took in a deep breath and set it aside. Piece by piece, he peeled off his bloody uniform until he was left in just his black jeans, his leg holster plus the 9mm pistol that went with it,  and his socks. He reached into the duffle bag and pulled out an old, bloody rag, and ran it under some running water in one of the sinks before attending to his duster. 

Thankfully, the blood didn’t stain the leather too badly. He could probably pass it off as a drink stain if anyone asked. No point in alarming people with the truth, after all. He then moved to his helmet, another easy clean since it was made of metal. The helmet was a dark grey, and there were dents and bullet marks scattered around it. The goggles’ lenses were a fierce red, and thankfully they blocked people from seeing his eyes.  

Another thing about the amazing Courier Six is that he was actually a mage and a mutant as well as a merc. Well, technically the term was “wizard,” but it didn’t roll well off the tongue. He was born with genetic mutations that gave him advanced cell regeneration, which translated to a healing ability. Whenever asked about it, he simply said it was a spell. His identity was something he tried to keep from most of the Express, with the exception of his boss, Yes Man, an android Six had saved from becoming scrap metal. He had to admit, he passed as human pretty well. 

Part of the cost of his magic was that without the talisman he wore on his wrist, all technology around him would short circuit or break. Magic and modern tech just doesn't mix all that well. No one in the magic community knows why it does, but that’s just the way it is. If Six were to take off that talisman, every omnic within a mile range of him would short circuit instantly. He really hated it. 

Another part, the part that makes his helmet so important, is that he can’t exactly look people in the eye. If he were, he would activate a soul gaze. A soul gaze is really self explanatory, really. Direct eye contact with a wizard caused the two to look directly into each others’ souls. Everything about them, every memory, every trauma, every emotion they’ve ever had, all in one gaze. It’s quick and it’s intimate as hell, and they are wildly uncomfortable to do. The only exception for soul gazes were with things that aren’t human. Demons, faeries, the five thousand types of magical creatures: impossible to soul gaze. However, there thankfully hasn’t been as many of those nowadays. 

Six, as previously stated, absolutely loathed soul gazing with people, especially on accident. As such, he made sure to avoid it however he can, from using a two way mirror for the lenses on his helmet to inventing a spell that essentially gives him glass contacts, preventing a soul gaze and allowing him to make eye contact. One of the downsides of the spell was that it made him appear to be blind, and as such, people tend to baby him because of his “disability.” 

Setting the helmet to the side, he turned to the bullet proof vest he wore under his uniform at all times to pick out the casings that got stuck there from when the mobsters had shot at him. Though he technically didn’t need it with his healing factor, he still felt pain, and this was just an extra step to prevent getting hurt again. Examining the vest and finding it to be mostly intact, he set it on top of his duster and shoved his hands back into the duffle bag for a replacement shirt. No point in running around in a tattered scrap of cloth with his chest scars out in the open. 

He pulled a dark shirt over his deeply scarred chest and grabbed the rag before picking up his boots to clean them off. He’d have to remember to avoid walking in the puddles of blood on the way out. After he finished wiping the drying blood off of his combat boots, he pulled them on and laced them up before shoving most of his merc equipment into his duffle bag. He paused as soon as he got to his duster, which he had buried under his vest and helmet, and he considered slipping it on over his outfit. He pursed his lips and hummed before ultimately deciding against it. It’d make him stand out, and that was the last thing he needed right now. He gingerly folded the leather duster before packing it into the duffle bag. Six unbuckled the holster and flicked the safety on the 9mm before packing it into a side pocket and zipping up the bag. 

Since he was right next to the Kansai International Airport, the airport he had landed in an hour previously, it’d probably be easy for him to buy some tourist-y things to keep people from suspecting him. It’s not like there really would be anyone suspecting him of being a world renowned mercenary who never reveals his face, but it’s still nice to take precautions. 

After purchasing two tee shirts and an Okinawa sweatshirt, he set off to find his hotel and drop off his things. One of the nice things about being one of the very few Couriers who are able to deliver internationally is that there’s a lot of money stashed for hotel and travel expenses. There’s a small percent of each month’s earnings set aside for these such trips, and since so few do these missions, Six always got the best hotels and a crap ton of money to spend on himself on top of a check waiting for him back home. At least there was that silver lining to being stuck in Japan for two days. 

Deciding to follow Yes Man’s advice, Six managed to get on the train to Hanamura before it left the station. As his boss had said, the trip was about an hour long, and as such it was late evening when he arrived in the small city district. The sun was beginning to set, and the street lights and lanterns that hung in strings high across the roads illuminated in the growing darkness. The warm lights reflected off of Six’s milky white eyes as he glanced at the lit store signs. Small cafes and shops lined one half of the street, and an arcade named Rikimaru sat at the end of the long road. People of all ages and couples hanging off of each other littered the sidewalks, chatting amongst themselves. It didn’t seem like anything out of the normal back in Vegas, so he felt right at home. The only difference was that everything was in Japanese, one of the few languages he could read, but not much else. He could hold a short conversation, but Japanese was one of those languages he learned when he was young and never used, so he mostly forgot it. Now it was going to bite him in the ass. Fun. He figured that for now, his best bet was the arcade. Even if he couldn’t fully understand the text, he could still figure out how to play the game. 

The first thing that he noticed upon entering the arcade was the noise overload. Game machines were blaring, people were talking, kids were screaming, it was absolute sensory overload. Granted, it was about the same you would expect from a Vegas casino, but it still got to Six. He sighed and pulled out his earbuds, plugging them into his phone and continuing where he left off in his playlist before purchasing arcade tokens and taking a seat at a Street Fighter cabinet. Even in a different language, he could still play god damn Street Fighter.

Sliding an arcade token into the slot, he waited for the screen to register his token before pressing START. Because he had not played in so long, he completely forgot which character he used to prefer playing, and as such chose a random one. He sighed when he was assigned a scantily clad woman in a bathing suit, but he decided to roll with it anyways. Cammy, if he was remembering her name right. He was quickly absorbed into the game, and with the help of his earbuds, he was completely oblivious to the world around him. 

Particularly, he was oblivious to the young man trying to get his attention.

“おはよう。(Hi)” The green haired teen repeated, glancing between Six and his game.

A moment passed and Six said nothing, completely zeroed in on the game in front of him. While it was a little irritating, the focused look on his face was absolutely adorable. The young man pouted.

“ヨ‼︎(Hey!!)” He tried again, only to yield the same results. He sighed and ran his hand through his hair before noticing the earbuds that Six was plugged into. He chuckled to himself before poking Six on the shoulder repeatedly and smiling. 

Startled, Six quickly paused the match and yanked the earbuds out of his ears, ready to attack if needed. He’d been attacked in stranger places, after all. He looked the young man up and down, noting the slightly faded green hair, warm brown eyes, mischievous smile, and toned form of the man who had disrupted him. 

“だれ？名前ですか？(Who are you? What’s your name?)” Six asked, eying him warily. 

“シマダゲンジです。名前は？(I’m Genji Shimada. Your name?)” He asked, tilting his head slightly. Six couldn’t help but chuckle. 

“はじめまして、シクスです。(Nice to meet you, I’m Six.)” Six nodded before sighing. “済みません、日本語をすこし話します。英語を話しますか？ (I’m sorry, I speak only a little Japanese. Do you speak English?)”

Genji nodded. “I assume it’d be easier for you if we talked like this?” 

“Much, thank you.” Six chuckled. “Now, is there something you need?”

“I just wanted to come talk to you. It’s not often we get foreigners in Hanamura, especially not ones as cute as you.” 

Six laughed. “You use that line on every foreigner?”

“Of course not. None are as sexy as you.” He took a seat next to Six. “Mind if I play?”

“Oh, bold, are we? Hah, go ahead.” Six turned back to the machine and started the game over, instead picking the two player option. The two selected their characters and began the match. Six decided to just stick with Cammy for now, and Genji chose the poster boy of the franchise, Ryu. As the two began a match, Genji spoke up again. 

“So Six? Is that your real name?” He quipped, slamming Six’s character to the ground. 

“Wouldn’t you like to know.” Six said as he quickly retaliated. 

“What’s a handsome guy like you doing in Hanamura?” Genji grunted as Six used a high kick to send him flying across the screen. “Again, we don’t really get foreigners here.”

“I’m here on business.” Six muttered a small “Yes!” as he watched Genji soar back. 

“Oh, so you’re a businessman!” Genji used a sweeping kick to knock Six to the ground before pummeling him with undodgeable attacks. “You look awfully young to be a boring old businessman, though.” 

Six hummed in irritation. “Maybe I’m not your average businessman.” He remarked as he leapt back behind Genji and thwacked his character in the back of the head. 

“Is that so?” Genji glanced at his health bar and realized he was losing. “Then what kind of business are you in? Especially to be in such a dangerous district as Hanamura?” 

Six went in for the kill, charging his ultimate attack. “Oh? Hanamura’s dangerous? Why is that?” He taunted. 

“There’s a clan of criminals here, you know. Criminals that might just,” Genji jumped up behind Six’s character and knocked him to the ground, calling off his ultimate, “Sneak up on you!” 

“Oh, you _ bastard _ !” Six laughed, trying desperately to recover before Genji killed him. Unfortunately, he was too late, and Genji took the match and his virtual character’s life. He leaned back in his chair and let out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding before laughing and looking back at Genji. 

“Good game. Must come here often. Though, you didn’t have much challenge. I haven’t played in years.”

“Really? You played just fine to me.” 

“You’re just saying that because you won.” Six laughed, waiting a second before speaking again.

“You said you’re a Shimada, right? One of those criminals ‘round these parts?” He asked, to which Genji nodded smugly. Six chuckled. 

“You impressed?” Genji asked, clearly trying to inflate his own ego.

Six laughed again. “‘Fraid not, my friend. Takes a lot to impress someone like me.” 

Genji leaned forward in his seat. “Really now? Then let me try harder.”

Thinking back on it, Six couldn’t quite remember how they went from flirting over Street Fighter to locking themselves in the arcade’s bathroom and making out against the tile wall. It was a blur every time he tried to remember what exactly happened. All he could think about in that moment was how good Genji’s touch felt, how much sexual frustration he had had built up, and how much he wanted Genji right then and there. He bit back a moan as Genji left another dark bruise on his neck, refusing to give any more fuel to this man’s ridiculous ego. He was pressed up against the bathroom wall, his legs around Genji’s waist and hands buried in his soft, green hair. 

Genji paused what he was doing to look up at Six. “Why don’t we take this to your place?” He murmured, eyelids heavy.

Six let out a breathy laugh. “My hotel’s an hour away from here.” 

Genji shook his head. “No problem. Then let’s head to mine.” 

The night was a passionate one, one that left both of them completely exhausted and up until about three in the morning. Every touch was incredible, and their desires seemed insatiable. Each one made certain that the other was completely satisfied, and that they would go until the other ran out of breath. The two young men both fell asleep in each other’s arms, hickeys and kiss marks all over them. 

The next morning, Six was the first to awaken, tangled in the sheets and Genji’s embrace. A soft groan sounded in his throat as the light from the open window his his eyelids. Had that been open all night? Opening his milky eyes, he saw Genji clutching onto his torso and keeping him close. He chuckled as he looked down at the sleeping Shimada, a serene look on his sleeping face. His lips were slightly parted, and his soft hair was splayed over the white pillow. He looked adorable, and Six couldn’t help but snap a quick picture on his phone. Might as well get some proof that his happened to brag back at base.

Unraveling himself quietly from the mess of sheets and limbs, he reached for his pants and socks and slipped them on, as well as the hoodie Genji had discarded on the floor the previous night. It was large on Six’s small frame, and it smelled like him. He plucked his phone off of the ground and shoved it in his pocket before silently creeping out of the room and sliding the door shut. 

He took off for the kitchen, vaguely remembering where Genji had pointed it out when they arrived at the Shimada’s castle the previous night. Various servants that he passed bowed to their guest, which prompted Six to flush slightly. 

“Where is the kitchen?” He asked, not realizing he was still speaking in English. The servants were silent for a moment before one of them whispered the translated version of the question to the others. They smiled and walked him to the kitchen in an awkward silence before bowing and quickly leaving. 

It wasn’t until he turned around that he realized he wasn’t the only one in the room. A young man, older than Genji but seemingly not by too much, knelt down in front of a small table on the floor with a steaming ceramic cup of tea in his calloused hands. As soon as he heard Six’s footsteps, he glanced at him from over his shoulder before setting the tea cup down and turning to face him.

“だれ？(Who are you?)” He asked in a low voice. 

“シクスです。ゲンジさんの友達です。(I’m Six. Genji’s friend.)” Six nodded at him.

“ _ No doubt another one Genji brought home… _ ” He muttered under his breath, seemingly thinking that Six couldn’t hear him. 

“Yes, that’s right.” Six affirmed, causing the young man to look back at him in momentary shock. “If you don’t mind conversing with me in English, please?”

The young man seemingly hesitated before nodding and picking his tea back up for a drink. His long, dark brown hair fell gracefully over his shoulders, framing his hardened face quite nicely. His eyes were the same rich brown as Genji’s. He must be the brother that Genji had briefly mentioned. 

“You may sit.” He said quietly, feeling bad for making a guest stand. 

Six nodded to him and knelt down on the opposite side of the table. The young man picked up an empty tea cup off of the silver tray to his right and set it in front of Six. Quietly pouring him a cup of the steaming green tea, his gaze was fixated on the delicately crafted cup. Six quietly thanked him before taking a sip of the hot tea. 

“I am Hanzo, by the way.” The young man said, finally giving Six a name to work with. “Your name is rather strange. Where are you from?”

Six took another drink before answering. “America. Vegas, to be more specific. I was here on business and a colleague pointed me to Hanamura.” 

Hanzo’s eyes narrowed slightly. “And just what is your business?”

He chuckled. “You’re the older brother, right?” 

Hanzo nodded. 

“Then you should know more about the other groups that the Shimada’s are technically allied with, yes?”

He nodded again, slower this time. 

“I’m a member of the Mojave Express, aka the Courier Trade, depending on where you are and who you ask. Six is my code name, and as such it’s the name I use when I’m out on business.” He shrugged. “I’d rather not have my real name out in the open. A name is a powerful thing, after all.”

“I have heard of you, then. Father has spoken to me about our most powerful allies, and your name came up.” Hanzo took a drink. “You are very notorious, even outside of your desert.”

Six smirked. “Nice to be recognized for my talents.

Hanzo chuckled, a small smile gracing his lips. “So out of curiousity, what was it that drew you to my brother? As I know him, he’s an immature playboy who would rather spend his time in an arcade than represent the clan.”

“Doesn’t sound like you’re too fond a’ him.” Six remarked. 

“Don’t misunderstand me.” Hanzo said, that small smile still there. “I love my brother very dearly. He is my only sibling, and as such, I cherish him dearly. But as his older brother, I know him extremely well.”

“I get ya, man.” Six took another long drink, relishing the feeling of the hot tea warm his cold body. “But t’ answer your question, he just came up and played a game with me, n’ once we started talking, I realized he was pretty alright. There’s nothin’ specific that ‘drew me to him.’” He said with air quotes to emphasize his point.

Hanzo hummed, and soon the two were back to silence. It wasn’t uncomfortable, per se, but silence was something that really bugged Six, especially when in someone else’s house. Luckily for him, Hanzo broke the silence with another question. 

“Are you blind?” He asked, no malice in his voice. Just a simple question. 

Six shook his head. “No, I’ve got an eye condition. Why do you ask?”

“Your eyes are a strange white, which usually would indicate that you cannot see, but you have maintained eye contact with me our entire conversation.”

“You’re perceptive.” Six said, a smile on his face. “As is fit of the heir of the Shimada clan.”

Hanzo let out a silent laugh, exhaling through his nose and allowing a miniscule smile. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

There was another brief moment of silence before Six spoke again. 

“Say, could I ask a small favor of ya’?” He asked, his voice less playful and softer than it was before. Hanzo nodded, prompting him to continue. 

“Can you keep my business a secret from Genji? I don’t really wanting him knowing that I’m a dangerous merc.” Six glanced down at the table and sighed, clutching the tea cup. “Everyone knows me because of how dangerous I am, how good I am at my job. Even if this turns out to be just a one night stand, I want him to think I’m just a normal guy and not a criminal.” 

“I can do that, and I can understand where you’re coming from. Genji will never know.” 

Six sighed in relief. “Thank you, Hanzo.” 

He smiled again. “Of course.” 

The two spent the next two hours talking, and Hanzo was kind enough to give Six a tour of Shimada castle, so he would at least know the building he was in. The older of the Shimada brothers, Six noticed, was much more uptight and polite than Genji. He seemed to take his role as heir of the clan very seriously, and at first, it seemed like he was only being nice to Six because he was a guest in his home. And yet, as the two conversed, he seemed to open up more, though it was incredibly slow. Six could tell that Hanzo was a very lonely man, having spent his whole life training and preparing to take over his father’s place one day instead of having a childhood or making any real friends. He was exhausted, and he needed a companion in his life. Six hoped that he could at least give him some company. 

Around ten in the morning, Genji finally began to stir. As soon as the light from his window hit his eyes, he groaned and rolled around in the bed, only to find his companion from the previous night was gone. Briefly, he wondered if he had imagined the whole thing, but the scattered clothes around the room proved otherwise. A low groan left his throat as he shifted in his sheets. He rubbed his eyes before sitting up, the sheets falling and exposing his bare chest. Yawning, he pulled the sheets off and grabbed his pants off of the floor. As soon as he had them on, he lazily pulled on the first shirt he could grab, not realizing it was Six’s. He then left to figure out where his companion had run off to. 

He couldn’t have left, his things were still here. That meant he was probably somewhere in the castle, where everyone spoke Japanese and he hardly could. Genji groaned, knowing he’d have to find him soon so he doesn’t accidentally piss someone off. Which, with the limited knowledge he had on him, he would probably do fairly quickly. 

After wandering around for longer than he would have liked, he ended up finding Six sitting on a stone bench in the castle’s garden immersed in a conversation with Hanzo. He chuckled when he noticed that Six had snagged his sweatshirt while he was asleep. He had to admit, Six looked pretty cute in his clothes. 

“There you are.” He said, waving in their general direction before heading over to the bench. 

“Sorry for making you wake up by yourself, but I woke up like two hours ago.” Six quipped before noticing the shirt Genji wore. “...is that my shirt?”

“Is it?” Genji mumbled, looking down at his shirt. “I guess it is. Oops.” He laughed awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck as Six chuckled. 

“Here, sit with us. Hanzo was telling me about the cherry blossom festival tonight.” He grinned. “Looks like I was stranded in Japan at the right time. I get to experience the most stereotypical Japanese festival.” 

“Right, I’d forgotten about the festival! Six, would you want to go with me?” Genji asked, a slight flush tinting his cheeks. Six smiled and nodded.

“Might as well. ‘S not like I’ve got anything better to do.” 

 

\----------------------------------------

 

As Genji had hoped, the cherry blossom festival had been a success, and at the end of the night, he had gotten Six in bed again. However, this time, they chose to not completely wear themselves out and spend the night talking, as this was Six’s last night in Japan. The two lied face to face tangled within the sheets, ending the day as it had started. Genji held onto Six’s hand, gazing into his eyes. 

“This is your last night here. Must you leave so soon?” He whispered, running his thumb over Six’s knuckles. 

“‘Fraid so. I’ve got work to do and things to deliver.” Six chuckled bitterly. “Besides, I know you playboy types well. You go through partners like gloves; you’ll find someone else in no time.” 

Genji sighed, chuckling. “You know, normally, you’d be right. But there’s something about you that makes me want to stay, at least for a little longer.”

“Oh? Have I snagged the great playboy?” Six laughed. “Look, I move around a lot. Being with me would be a lot of phone calls and only a few nights like this.”

“For you, I’m willing to try.”

“Are you sure about this?” Six asked, brows furrowing in concern. “Like I said before, I’m a dangerous man. Are you sure you don’t wanna find someone local and just settle down with them?” 

“Six, listen to me. I… well,” Genji gulped as a light flush dusted his cheeks. “There’s something about you that’s different from the rest. I’m feeling a real connection here, and I don’t want to lose it before I can really get to know you.”

“That was… oddly serious of you.” 

“Because I’m being serious.” The Shimada sighed. “Look, you don’t have to believe me. You’re right, I’m a playboy, but I’m still a man with a heart. And… I really want to see where this goes…”

Six paused for a moment before chuckling softly. “Alright, let’s give this a chance. But I’m warning you: you break my heart, I break your face, capiche?”

Genji laughed and pulled Six to his chest, causing the smaller man to laugh with him. 

  
“Understood.”


	2. MIA

It had been three years since their initial meeting in Hanamura, and to Hanzo and Six’s surprise, an actual relationship had blossomed between the two. While Six’s work often kept him from being able to visit, the two still remained in close contact through daily phone and video calls. At the end of the month, they would send each other small packages of little things they had found. On their first anniversary, Genji sent a short, rope leather necklace with a small hand carved wooden charm on it. The charm was a small rectangular dragon, and on the back, both of their initials were carved in with a small blade. Genji had clearly done that himself. Six had immediately put it on and never took it off. Eventually, Six found a similar one in Vegas with the California Republic flag charm, and he sent it back to Genji as soon as he could. 

Occasionally, Six and Hanzo would talk, and through Genji’s influence, they became close friends. He would even drag his older brother in for their videos calls every once in awhile, and the two could talk on their own for hours on end. Needless to say, the Courier had a close relationship with both of the Shimada brothers. One that wouldn’t be so easily broken. 

Hanzo had stayed true to his word; Genji still had no clue about what Six really did, as far as either of them knew. All he knew was that he handles important deliveries, ones that couldn’t be done by any old postal service, and he had never bothered to do any research on the Mojave Express, to Six’s relief. 

One of said deliveries was the topic of today’s call. Six had strategically wedged his phone between his face and his shoulder while he packed his supplies and got ready to leave. This delivery was supposedly a vitally important one, according to Yes Man, so any tracking devices on Six would have to be left behind. As such, this would likely be the last call between the two for a few weeks or so. 

“I don’t want to have to wait so long to call you, Six.” Genji whined, his pout somehow audible. “It’s hard enough just waiting for our daily calls!”

Six laughed. “Trust me, baby, it’ll be fine. Hey, this way we’ll have a lot to talk about our next call.” He filled his ammo clip and secured it in place before shoving the 9mm pistol in his leg holster. 

Genji groaned. “What’s so important about this delivery, anyways?”

“Not sure. Client’s keeping real quiet about what it is. I’m not allowed to look in, it breaks our client privacy policy.”

“Yeah… Say, if you find out, lemme know. I’m really curious.” 

“I am, too. It’s a relatively small package, and yet it’s being treated with so much reverence that I’m pretty sure it’s either a bomb or a holy artifact. Could easily go either way.” 

“... that’s kinda concerning…” Genji mumbled, causing Six to laugh. 

“Well, the Express deals with all kinds of deliveries, baby. I’ve handled bomb deliveries before, and none of ‘em have blown up in my face yet.”

“ _ Yet. _ ” He repeated, tone exasperated. “God, these few weeks are going to be  _ so _ anxiety inducing.”

“You aren’t the one potentially carrying an explosive.” Six quipped. “I’ll be okay, baby. I’ve made deliveries like this hundreds of times. Nothing bad will happen.”

“Saying things like that only makes me think bad things will happen…” He sighed into the receiver. “I’m just scared that I might lose you, Six. I care too much about you…” He hesitated. 

“Green? Everything okay?” Six’s voice softened as he used his nickname for Genji, and he paused his rummaging through his weapons bin. 

He took in a deep breath before speaking. “I… 愛してる(I love you)... I don’t want to lose you now.” 

Six’s eyes widened for a brief moment before they closed and he chuckled. Neither one of them had said that quite yet. “I love you, too, Genji. More than you know. Now quit your worrying, baby.”

He laughed. “It’s such a relief to hear you say that… I’ve wanted to tell you that for so long. I was hoping I could at least tell you through a video call so I could see your reaction.”

Six laughed. “Well, you got me blushing, I’ll tell you that.”

“Alright. I’ll quit worrying. Two weeks, right? You have to promise me you’ll call as soon as you can, okay?”

“I promise.” He hummed to himself before sighing. “I have to go, Green. The sooner I start, the sooner I can come home and talk to you.”

“Alright. I love you.” He nearly giggled. “It feels so good to say that.”

Six laughed again. “Dork. I love you, too. Catch ya on the flip side.” 

Smiling, he hung up the call and set his phone back down on the table. He took in a deep breath and let it out through his nose, looking at his phone background. It was a picture of him and Genji in a butterfly garden. They were both grinning, and Genji didn’t notice the small cluster of monarch butterflies on his shoulder. There was a black butterfly above Six’s brow, and he could remember how the creature’s tiny legs tickled his face. He smiled faintly at the memory before shutting his phone off and prepping his bag for travel. 

A serious benefit of being a wizard in his line of work is that he can carry an unlimited amount of things without getting tired or slowed down. Namely, through a bottomless backpack. But, one might ask, how do you get things out of it without rummaging through literally endless amounts of garbage? Most wizards don’t have a solution to this issue, but luckily, Six did. A long while back, he had saved a small cluster of air spirits from getting eaten by a loose hellhound. As repayment, they had summoned their entire colony to assist him however he wished. They seemed pretty happy to inhabit the magic backpack, assisting their “Great Wizard,” as they called him, through his adventures. They didn’t really have names, per say, so Six just called them Junimos after characters in a game he played a long time ago. 

Upon touching the straps of the worn leather bag, he could feel the Junimos stirring with excitement. Six smiled at them before pulling the bag’s straps over his shoulders. He double checked all of his weapons and ammunition before grabbing his helmet and setting out for yet another delivery. 

 

\----------------------------------------------

 

As it turned out, it was anything  _ but _ yet another delivery.  Apparently, Six was carrying something vitally important in that dinky little package: the key to a weapons bunker hidden somewhere within the sands of the Mojave. Apparently, it had enough supplies and ammunition to supplies seven whole armies, and it was all at his fingertips without him knowing. Six had been sabotaged while traveling through a dust storm by some dwit in a tacky checkered suit and his lackeys, hired mercs Six recognized as the Great Khans. He’d worked with them before, the pricks. They’d managed to sneak up on him when his guard was down and shot him from behind. 

And that’s how he found himself bound with zip ties around his wrists and ankles, bleeding profusely from his side and staring the dick in the tacky suit in the eye. Six didn’t bother to say anything; he knew damn well what was going to happen, and that his smart mouth wouldn’t help anything. Tacky suit guy shook his head and smiled sadly at Six, slowly flipping the bronze key around in his fingers.

“I’m sorry to do this to ya, baby.” He said, tone nearly mocking. “I’m sure you were a great Courier. But I’m afraid this was your last delivery. It’s a sick game we play.”

The two Great Khans furrowed their brows as they stared down at Six. The Courier coughed, a little blood landing on the sand near his broken kneecap. His breathing was labored, yet there was no fear in his eyes. No anxieties. He was eerily calm, and it was visibly bothering the mercs. 

“At least let me know the name of the one about to kill me. Gimme a final mercy.” Six asked, voice calm and collected. His tone was low as he looked Tacky Suit dead in the eye. It visibly startled him, as again, Six looked like he was blind. 

“Baby, this game was rigged from the beginning. I’m sorry you were caught up in all this.” A cruel smile twisted his chapped lips. “Benny Gecko, to answer your question.”

He pulled a small revolver out of his ugly suit jacket and aimed at Six’s head. “Bye now, baby.” He said before pulling the trigger. 

There really is no way of expressing the sound and feeling of your own skull cracking open. It’s something one really has to experience on their own to know how goddamn painful it was for Six. His eyes were wide open as the bullet made contact with his skull just above his left brow, shattering fragments of the bone. The force of the impact knocked him onto his side, staring blankly as Benny and the Great Khans walked away from him, grabbing several shovels. However, the kingpin saw something on Six and turned to his stunned body.  The last thing he saw was his own blood dripping over his eye and staining the Mojave’s sand, Benny pulling something small and shiny out of is jacket pocket, and the stars in the clear sky. 

_ “Sorry, Genji…” _ He muttered under his breath before his world went black. 

 

\-------------------------------------

 

Two weeks passed quietly, uneventfully, and Genji had heard nothing from Six. He glanced at the time, 5 pm. The time they usually call each other. It had been exactly two weeks, and he hadn’t heard a single thing from Six. He tried not to panic, Six had warned him before that sometimes deliveries take longer than expected. There were sandstorms all the time, detours in their usual routes, more important things come up and the delivery is delayed. All kinds of things can happen. Things like this had happened before, so he wasn’t too terribly worried. 

The third week, he started getting a bit antsy. Enough so that Hanzo began to take notice of it. In a somewhat out of character move, he invited Genji to go out to a nice restaurant and get drinks. Which turned out to be a bad idea, as both of them were absolutely wasted after only an hour of being there. The entire time, Genji’s drunken self kept bawling about how his lover was gone and that he didn’t love him anymore. Hanzo, equally as shitfaced, began crying with him. It was quite entertaining to the Shimada castle servants. That is, until Hanzo threw up from drinking too much. And dealing with two hungover brothers the next morning. 

The fourth week is when he officially started panicking. He began calling Six’s phone obsessively, every day at their normal time. At this point, he was just desperate to hear his voice, to know he was still alive. When nothing happened for another week, he almost began to give up hope. He would still call at their time, but he eventually became used to the sound of Six’s answering machine. 

When the call finally went through, Genji almost shot across the room to his phone. 

“Six?! Are you okay?! Talk to me--” He shouted, before the voice on the other end responded. 

“Who are you and why do you have Agent Six’s number?” A chipper voice… threateningly asked. 

Genji paused. “Uh, who is this…? Why do you have Six’s phone?”

“Answer me first, buddy!” The voice demanded happily. Genji was starting to get creeped out by this guy. 

“Uh, I’m Genji Shimada? Six’s partner?”

“Oh, you’re that boy Six would always go on about! I’m Yes Man, his boss!” 

Genji sighed. “Look, can I talk to Six? I’ve been worried sick about him…”

“I’m afraid you can’t do that, buddy!” Yes Man chuckled, and it sounded nervous. 

“...and why not?” Genji asked, his patience quickly wearing thin. 

“Well, I’m afraid we can’t find him! He’s gone MIA.” Yes Man paused for a second before continuing his thought. “At this point, we’re likely going to pronounce him dead. It was a very sensitive delivery, after all!”

“ _ WHAT?! _ ” Genji shrieked, causing Yes Man to yelp. “He’s-he’s dead?! No, no this can’t be true!”

“I sure am sorry, Mr, Shimada, but he went missing a month ago, and he was carrying a very dangerous package. It’s likely he was hijacked along his route.” Yes Man’s voice was somber, but it still somehow had that chipper tune to it. “We’ll keep looking for him until we find him. Whether he’s alive or dead, well,” he laughed nervously. “That remains to be seen, I guess!”

Genji’s eyes widened, and he could feel tears incoming. His skin had gone pale, and he felt chills running down his spine. Dead. He was dead. His Six was dead. And he still didn’t even know his real name. 

“He’s… gone?” He breathed. Somehow Yes Man caught it through the receiver. 

“We’ll keep you updated, Mr. Shimada. I guarantee you, the Mojave Express will find out what happened to Six!” 

“I… thank you…” He whispered before hanging up the call. His phone clattered to the floor as it slipped out of his hand. All of a sudden, Genji felt empty. He felt numb, and he felt cold, and he felt dead. 

_ Dead. _ Six was dead all this time, and he had no idea. He had just carried on with his life like normal while his love had been murdered. He felt empty, both inside and out. One of the first things on his mind was  _ how the fuck am I going to tell Hanzo _ .

  
  


\---------------------------------------

 

It had been three years since then. Three years of silence from Six, from the Shimadas, from the Mojave Express. Three years of Six being pronounced Missing in Action. Three years of slowly picking off the Great Khans one by one until they let up where Benny was.

Six had had quite the adventure in three years. 

As it turned out, he had somehow managed to survive his shot to the head. Magic, he guessed. Someone in the nearby town of Goodsprings had heard the shots fired that night, and saw the Great Khans burying Six’s body. After they left him for dead, the robot had dug up Six and brought him to the local doctor. Six was hanging on to his life, somehow, and the doc managed to nurse him back to health. He had said that Six was lucky that the bullet hadn’t gone into his brain. It was awfully close, apparently.

As soon as Six was back on his feet, one year after the shot, and his aim was re steadied, he was off to find Benny and kick his ass straight into the fucking sun, as he told the doc. One of the first things he did was drop by the Mojave Express office in the middle of the night to gather his gear. Apparently, when he’d been gunned down, they didn’t bother to take any of his things. So he luckily still had the void backpack, along with his spiritual friends. That was nice. 

After restocking (see: stealing from the Express), Six was off to get some fucking vengeance. He knew the Couriers wouldn’t be any help to him here; they cared more about keeping their ties with important underground figures rather than their own men. However, his plans were quickly changed as he got dragged into helping every god forsaken town he went through. People were only willing to give him supplies and information in exchange for favors, and as such, he was sidetracked really easily. His severe case of ADHD did  _ not _ help anything. 

As such, he spent the next year and a half unwillingly helping the people of the Mojave. He did manage to make a few allies along the way: Dr. Arcade Gannon, the sass master of the group besides Six, Lily, an elderly woman with schizophrenia that had been experimented on and turned into essentially the Incredible Hulk: Granny Edition, and Raul, a mechanic going through a midlife crisis. They also somehow got a cyborg dog from a bunch of Elvis impersonators. At this point, he stopped questioning things and just went with everything weird that happened to him. 

With his new friends in tow, they went around “helping” people and inevitably getting screwed over. Somehow, Six was kidnapped by a group of insane doctors who were floating computers, and they removed his brain, heart, and spine and essentially replaced them with cotton fluff. And then made him run their errands for them. He then had to argue with his own brain to convince it to come back into his body. If it weren’t for the scars where they had surgically removed and put back in his organs, he would be convinced it was a bad acid trip. 

Six also wasn’t sure how he became involved in a political scandal. Yes Man had been rewired by Benny and had his personality implanted into a Securitron, one of the robots guarding Vegas from hostile forces. Six had found Yes Man shoved in the back of a warehouse in the middle of nowhere, humming to himself and waiting for Benny to come back. When questioned about Benny’s whereabouts, Yes Man had nothing to say. Benny had kept it from him on the off chance someone was looking for him. Someone was definitely looking for him, alright. 

With no leads to follow, the group was stuck. That is, until a representative of Mr. House, the current leader (ahem, dictator) of Las Vegas, demanded that Six come and meet with House. He wanted to refuse, but the gun to his head convinced him otherwise. No use in ending up bleeding out in a ditch again. House apparently had seen how effective Six and crew were in handling the Mojave, and wanted to use them to regain control of the desert for his own selfish purposes. There were also radical groups grabbing at control of Vegas, the New California Republic and Caesar’s Legion. The Legion was a group of Roman cosplayers who had lost their minds and decided to enslave the Mojave for their new empire. After meeting with all three groups against his will, he decided they were all batshit crazy and that Vegas could govern itself for fucks sake.

And that’s how Six found himself engaged in a bloody battle atop the Hoover Dam between his army of freedom fighters (namely, the people he had wasted his time helping), the NCR, House’s robots, and Caesar’s Legion. For some fucking reason, he managed to win the battle and bring independence to Vegas. He didn’t exactly know how this was under the radar of the American government, but he decided to go with it anyways. 

And despite all of that nonsense, he still hadn’t tracked down Benny. 

To say he was pissed off was the understatement of the year. 

And the entire time, he had had the nagging feeling he was forgetting something. Something important that he had meant to do before getting shot… Despite his best efforts, the shot to the head had made all of his memories of that week very blurry. He remembered the Platinum Chip being in Benny’s hands as Six bled out on the sand, the Great Khans helping him, Yes Man being very concerned about the safety of the package, but not much else. 

Every few days, he would be plagued by this dreadful feeling that he forgot something very important. It was beginning to drive him insane. Even after eventually deciding to tell the Mojave Express  _ oh by the way, I’m still alive _ , he was still left with nothing.

That is, until Yes Man made an offhand comment about Genji one day. 

“Say, did you ever call that Genji boy back?” He asked in that unsettlingly happy voice of his. 

Six’s face went blank, and his eyes widened so much that Yes Man was afraid they’d fall out of his sockets.  _ That’s _ what he had been forgetting. 

**_Genji._ **

He made a mad dash across the room and flew up the stairs to where his phone was charging while his companions watched in confusion. Yanking it off the charger, he quickly dialed Genji’s number, one he knew by heart, and waited in dread as the line rang. He didn’t even notice that he still had hundreds of voicemails from the younger Shimada brother. The line rang once, twice, three times before a somber voice picked up the line. 

“Six, you’re alive…?” Hanzo’s deep voice sounded out through the receiver. 

“Hanzo! Oh my god, I’m so sorry, I got caught up in so much weird shit, and I was shot in the head a couple times, and--” He began rambling, only to get cut off. 

“Slow down, slow down. There is no need to explain, I have been in contact with your company.” 

“Hanzo, you have no idea how good it is to hear your voice…” He chuckled before clearing his throat. “Can I talk to Genji? I’ve got a hell of a lot of apologizing to do.”

Hanzo was silent. Six chuckled again, this time a nervous undertone in his voice. 

“Uh, Hanzo? You still there?” Six asked, apprehension clear.

“I’m so sorry, Six… Genji is dead.” His trembling voice was barely above a whisper.

Six froze, eyes widening. “What? I must have misheard you. Where is Genji?” His voice was monotone.

“He’s dead, Six. I…” He trailed off. 

“Hanzo, ...what did you do?” Six’s voice changed from nervous to calm in an instant, chilling Hanzo to the bone.

“Our father died. There was a fight between us… I wanted Genji to start taking things more seriously in the clan, and I said it was what you wanted, and I-”

“You killed him.” Six breathed. “You killed Genji, and put words in my mouth…”

“I’m so sorry, Six-”

“Don’t.” He cut the elder Shimada off before he could apologize again. “How long ago did this happen?” 

“Two years ago, yesterday.” 

Six took in a shaky breath. “Thank you for telling me, Hanzo. That’ll be all.”

“You… you aren’t mad? Furious at me? You don’t wish I was dead?” Hanzo’s soft, trembling voice was barely heard through the phone’s speaker. 

“Of course I’m mad.” Six sighed. “It’s in the past now, Hanzo. Anything I could say to you wouldn’t change the fact that Genji is gone. There’s no point in hating you.”

“What happened to you, Six…? What happened to the short tempered, energetic gambler I last spoke to?” 

“He got shot in the head and left for dead. And had to learn a lot of hard lessons.” 

“I’m so sorry…”

Six paused for a brief moment. “I’ll be there soon. Do you have a grave for him?”

“No, unfortunately. We… I couldn’t bring myself to.”

“Good. I’ll be in Hanamura in a few days.” He sighed again. “You remember the tree in your family’s garden that Genji and I would always rest under? Clear an area at the base of the tree for me.”

He didn’t bother to let Hanzo respond before he hung up. Shutting his eyes, he leaned back against the wall, a lone tear trailing down his scarred cheek. Genji was gone. He died two years ago, while Six was out saving the Mojave. He really  _ was _ wasting his time there, when he could have kept the love of his life alive. And Genji had died thinking he was already dead… What an awful way to go.

Courier Six stained the Mojave red with blood, no hesitation, no remorse.


	3. Reunion

As far as the world knew, Courier Six was still lost amidst the harsh sands of the Mojave, and he preferred it that way. No one could ever see him coming. While the Mojave Express and most of the underground knew damned well that he was alive, his bloodied rampage through the deserts had given them the signal to stay clear of the mourning mercenary. It had been ten years since he had learned about Genji’s untimely death, and in those ten years he still couldn’t really comprehend that he was gone. As such, he could never bring himself back down to humanity, or so he believed.

He sighed as he set his aim on one of the guards posted outside of the building he was attempting to break into, the surprisingly lightweight sniper rifle balanced in his nimble hands. Eyes like white silk stared through the scope with the focus of a hawk at every little movement, pale, gloved hands completely still as he hunted his prey. Supposedly, one of Benny’s second in command men was in there, and Six would be damned if he got away from him again. The fucker had already escaped Six’s watchful eye in Dubai, and this time he was either going to cough up Benny’s location or die trying to escape. 

Courier Six was lost within the Mojave’s grasp, and a shadow of a man had taken his place. He deemed himself an angel of vengeance, sharpening both his marksman’s abilities as well as his magic. A living weapon, of sorts. And he wouldn’t rest until he put a bullet in Tacky Suit’s head himself.

In those ten years, Six had seriously changed up his look, and for good reason. After studying for a year under a group of Tibetan mages, he had adopted their clothing style. Now he donned a loose fitting, dark brown Tibetan robe with short sleeves, as well as a crisscrossing fabric tunic and a thick leather belt with various ammo clips, small pistols, and various potions and magically charged talismans. He also had a couple sets of throwing knives fastened between the small layers of leather wrapping around his entire abdomen. A bo staff was slung across his shoulder by its leather strap, and the void backpack hung from his shoulders. A black, diamond shaped mask covered his eyes and nose, leaving his mouth and jaw as the only visible sections of his face. The mask was a solid black metal sheet with two layers: the first a comfortable foam padding molded to the shape of his face with a perfect amount of space cut out for his eyes, and the second an indestructible metal that ran over the entire diamond shape. There were no eye-holes visible from the outside of the mask, but rest assured, Six could see perfectly fine. The outer layer of the mask had a subtle crisscrossing pattern similar to his inner tunic, with a small henna inspired border lining the edges. 

The mask itself was a talisman, an enchanted object designed for one purpose chosen by the enchanter. This one was one of perfect sight and of protection, so that he would never be shot in the face again. It was traumatic enough the first time, no need to repeat that. Despite its appearance, the mask allowed him flawless vision. It became a necessity after the initial shot to the head, as his vision was nearly lost with the wound. Without his mask, he couldn’t see a thing without glasses, as ironic as it was. 

Taking his aim, he swiftly shot down the two guards at the building’s back entrance. Their bodies collapsed on the ground soundlessly, and Six nimbly scaled his way down from the rooftop he had been on through use of a pipe outside the brick apartment building. The ends of his robes flowed gracefully with his descent, and fanned out when he softly made contact with the cement. He rather unceremoniously shoved the sniper rifle he had used into the void backpack and removed his bo staff from his shoulder. Swiping an ID card from the fallen guards, Six made his way into the building, scanning for more guards or any of Benny’s lackeys. 

Six crept through the building, certain not to make a single sound as he managed his way through the tight security. As he turned a corner, he saw three guards immersed in a conversation, seemingly unaware of his presence. Might as well get their attention. He pulled out a small bomb from one of the pouches on his belt and rolled the golf ball sized explosive down the hall. It knocked into one of the guards’ boots before exploding, killing all three instantly and tripping the fire alarm and sprinklers.

Oops. Too much attention.

“Wrong bomb, wrong bomb,” He muttered beneath his breath.

Six traced a small rune onto the wall with the pad of his finger before pressing down on it, shielding himself from the water. He heard the panicking begin not long after the alarm was tripped, and soon the hallways were swarmed with guards. Six whirled the bo staff above his head before slamming one end on the ground, manipulating the falling drops into ice spears and impaling the nearest guards. He wiped the splattered blood from his cheek with disinterest.

The other lackeys didn’t waste much time mourning their friends before closing in on Six. He rammed the bo staff under one guard’s chin, forcing them to bite down on their tongue hard, and sent them flying before spinning it around and winding another guard. Holding the staff in his left hand, he shattered the fallen guard’s sternum while he pulled out a small deck of cards. He smiled menacingly at the remaining ten lackeys. 

“Fifty two card pickup?” He muttered before lobbing the deck in the air and watching them explode around him. He had to have some style in his attacks, after all. As the now dead lackeys fell to the ground, Six tilted his head to the side. 

“Huh, my mistake. That was thirty five.” He quipped to himself, stepping over the bodies and continuing to where he knew Benny’s man was hiding. Well, if he wasn’t hiding yet, that mess might cue him in a bit.

After striking down another handful of guards on his way there, Six finally came to a vault like door. Perfect hiding place for a criminal. Seeing the padlock on the door, he pulled out a small talisman, a red poker chip, and waved it over the screen. It short circuited instantaneously, causing the vault door to swing open pathetically. Six waited for it to finish moving before walking into the small hallway, using his bo staff as a sort of walking stick. 

“Oh, Johnny, dear!” Six called in a sing song voice, the sound echoing in the cement halls. “I’ve come to make a bargain!”

He could faintly hear the cocking of several guns, and he sighed, plucking another talisman out of his pocket. A green poker chip, this time. Got to keep up the theme of Vegas, of course. He tucked the chip within the crisscrossing folds of his tunic, right over his sternum. It was a small shield, that would hopefully hold up if his other force field gave in. He willed some of his energy into the chip before coming to a doorway. 

Deciding to screw with the terrified mercenary, he slammed the end of his staff against the ground, causing a surge of wind to appear behind him and force the door off its hinges. Johnny and the two thugs he had as guards all jumped at the loud thud before the thugs aimed their silver machine guns at Six. Slinging his bo staff over his shoulder once again, he held up both of his hands, and a calm smile graced his lips. 

“Come now, gentlemen, is there any need for more bloodshed? We already have a rather high body count...” Six’s voice was low and eerily calm, which clearly unsettled both the thugs and Johnny. “As I said, I have come to bargain with you,  _ Monsieur. _ ”

“Wh-whaddya want?!” The kingpin screeched. Clearly he wasn’t used to this sort of thing. Strange, for one of Benny’s boys. 

“I need information. In exchange, I let you and the rest of your men live, and I leave you alone.” He folded his hands and placed them behind his back. 

“Take off that mask first! I wanna look you in the eye and see if ya’ tellin’ the truth!” The Brooklyn accent was strong in this one. 

Six chuckled. “Of course. If it will help us negotiate.”

He pushed back his linen hood before grabbing the delicate edges of his mask with his gloved hands. Gingerly, he removed the mask, pushing back his dark hair before opening his eyes and meeting Johnny’s. Six reached into one of the inner pockets of his robes and pulled out a pair of thick lensed glasses before sliding them on his face. The kingpin gasped in horror as he saw Six’s milky white eyes and the bullet wound just above his left brow. 

“Y-you’re that Courier that Benny killed all those years ago!!” He trembled. “Wh-how are you still alive?!” 

“I often ask myself that.” Six smiled, refusing to break eye contact. “Now, you will tell me where Mr. Gecko is, or I kill you here and now.

Johnny laughed apprehensively. “Y-ya wouldn’t dare.”

“Oh? Would I?” Bringing his index and middle fingers to a point, he slashed his right hand down in the space across his chest, and the two thugs instantly fell to the ground. Johnny yelped and looked down at their dead bodies before looking back up at Six. 

“H-how did you…?!” He breathed, sweat drops gathering on his wrinkled, pale forehead. 

“I am presenting you with a choice,  _ monsieur _ . Either live and tell me Benny’s location, or die like your men.” Six nodded to the bodies on the ground.

Johnny hesitated, looking down at the bodies of his men as they grew colder. He swallowed hard before looking back up at Six, meeting him dead in the eye. 

“I-I’d never sell out Benny, you sick fuck.” He spat. 

Six sighed. “Such a disappointment. Benny certainly does recruit loyal ones, doesn’t he?” He chuckled before slipping his mask back on. “Goodbye,  _ monsieur _ .” 

However, before either could make a move, a cell phone went off. 

The two paused and frowned at the disturbance in the tense moment. Six reached into his pocket, a puzzled look on his face. He groaned as he saw who was calling: Hanzo Shimada. Without hesitating, he answered the phone while pulling out one of his small pistols and aiming it at Johnny. 

“You have the worst timing, ya’ know.” Six answered, dropping the menacing voice and talking in his usual Vegas accent. 

“Ah, my apologies. Am I interrupting something?” Hanzo’s deep voice said before chuckling. 

“Nah, was just finishing here ‘nyways.” He said, pulling the trigger and redecorating the walls with Johnny’s blood. 

“...Six, what was that?” Hanzo hesitantly asked. 

“Exactly what you think it was. Now what is it?” He murmured as he used his shoulder to keep his phone to his ear. He reached into one of his pockets and pulled out six Mojave Express calling cards before scattering them around the bodies. Might as well keep his signature for when Benny inevitable finds out about this.

“Uh, I don’t really want to know…” Hanzo sighed before continuing. “I’m calling because I will be in America soon, and I would like to see you. It has been years, after all.”

“Really? What’s bringing ya’ over?” Six inquired as he began removing all the ammunition from the dead thugs’ weapons. 

“I am joining Overwatch, and I would like for you to join as well.”

“Overwatch? That ‘super hero’ group that died out years ago? Why in the hell would ya’ join that?”

“Personal reasons. And the group has been recalled recently. Apparently, the agency behind Mondatta’s death is a terrorist organization, and with another omnic crisis impending, the group was needed again. I want to do my part to make amends for the wrongs I have done.”

“And you want me to join, why?” He laughed through his nose. “Think I need redeemin’, too?”

Hanzo chuckled. “Just take my word for it, they need you. There is a hacker who has surfaced named Sombra, and you are very talented at taking down technologically based criminals.”

“Hanzo, I don’t know shit about that kind of tech. I’m a mercenary, not a techie.”

“I know, but I feel like you of all people could take them on.” 

“You just want me to take off that talisman and destroy their access to the Internet, don’t you?” He said dryly, leaving the vault and approaching an elevator that led to the building’s entrance. 

“No, they could easily get another computer.” Hanzo sighed. “Please, just consider my offer. I will email you the base’s location and inform them about your potential arrival.”

“Who uses email anymore, Hanzo?” Six laughed. 

“ _ I _ do.” Hanzo grumbled. “Just, please, trust me on this. I have a good feeling about Overwatch.” 

Six sighed, contemplating his options. He paused his rummaging for a moment. On one hand, he could keep to himself as he had been, pursuing Benny on his own terms. He had managed to get this far on his own, after all. One of his closest men was dead at Six’s feet. On the other hand, he’d have access to all of Overwatch’s technology at his fingertips. Plus, if he could convince this Sombra person to get on his side, he could use their skills to track the little fucker down. It’d make things go much faster, and afterwards, he could forge a powerful alliance between the Couriers and Overwatch. 

“Fine. I’ll join, but on one condition.” He finally said, standing and double checking that he had everything before heading out the way he came in. 

“Of course.” 

“I get to use their resources to find Benny.” Six nearly spat out the name. “If I’m putting my life at risk to play hero, then I had better get something outta this.”

“I will ask when I arrive. I am getting ready to board my plane now. As soon as I am there, I will notify them and let you know what they say.” Hanzo sighed. “Please, Six. It is not often I ask things of you.”

“I know, Han, but I’m so close to gettin’ the fucker. I can’t lose him again.” His voice softened, and he sighed again, opening the message Hanzo had sent him on his Pip Boy. “Look, I’m only a few days from these coordinates. I’ll make my way there and we’ll see what happens.”

“Thank you, Six. Believe me, you will not regret this.” Relief was evident in Hanzo’s tone.

Six chuckled. “We’ll see.” He said before ending the call. 

 

\----------------------------------------------------

 

Finally reaching the base Hanzo had told him to go to, Six let out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding. Why was he so anxious about this? He had no reason to feel nervousness anymore, so what was this pit doing in his stomach? Why was he having second thoughts? This was just something Hanzo wanted him to do, one of his rare favors. Six would just help out this Overwatch crowd, find Benny, and then try to bring any restoration to his life he could manage at this point. Maybe go back to being a Courier, just a very heavily guarded one. Maybe start bringing the cyborg dog with him. Maybe just abandon everything for the sandy wastes. Maybe leave this timeline altogether. He had his Dean Martin songs saved on his Pip Boy and a dog to be by his side; was there anything else he really needed in life? 

_ ‘Ah, fuck it, _ ’ he thought.  _ ‘No harm in being a good Samaritan for a bit, I suppose.’ _

Six has been asked many a time what he first thought upon entering the Overwatch base. Most of the time, he would lie and say he felt a swell of pride at knowing he was going to change the world, or some other typical bullshit like that. Sometimes, he would mix it up and tell people he didn’t feel anything, that he was too cool and composed to feel anything. 

In all honesty, the first thing he thought of was the ridiculously strong smell of peanut butter and the distant screaming from the back of the building. 

For a few moments, he just stood in the threshold, trying to determine where the source of either of the things assaulting his senses were located. He slid his bo staff off of his shoulder and held it tentatively in his leather gloved hand. After a moment, he coughed and walked further into the base. 

The building’s inner architecture matched its exterior quite well: the walls and ceilings were clear cut, with symmetrical patterns of various shades of blues and greys coloring the tile floors. Glass panes in the high ceilings allowed for natural sunlight to flow in. His footsteps echoed through the vast halls. The walls were littered with portraits of presumably the former members of Overwatch. The photographs were dated, and there were old recruitment posters in between each picture. 

“Hello?” He called out, tone dry and irritated. “Anyone home? You left your front door unlocked. Not very good security.”

“Who goes there?” A gruff, gravelly voice called out, and Six noticed a small red dot hovering over his chest. 

“It’s the plumber. I’ve come to fix the sink.” Six quipped in an overly exaggerated voice before slipping back into his previous, irritated tone. “Mind coming out where I can see ya, cochise?”

An older man in a red, white, and blue leather jacket stepped into his line of vision. Must be one of the overly patriotic types. What a joy. A long, jagged scar ran across his exposed face, only further aging him. His eyes showed experience, pain, and a sense of emptiness. He held himself like a soldier, and damnit, his face looked familiar. A customized rifle rested in his hands, one that was pointed directly at him.

“Who are you, and what are you doing here?” The man demanded. 

“Courier Six, at your service.” Six mockingly bowed, spreading his arms and his staff with them. “Called here by a certain Shimada. Now, name please?” A smirk graced Six’s scarred lips as he brought himself back up to a standing position, hand still firmly clasped on his bo staff. 

The soldier grunted, lowering his weapon. “Jack Morrison. Thought you were dead.”

“Thought the same of you, 76. That’s the number, right?” Six chuckled. “I’m here to help with your pest problem. Sombra is the name, I think.” 

“Mmn. You’re Hanzo’s friend, right?” Jack crossed his arms. “I admit, you weren’t exactly what I was expecting.” 

“Oh?” Six curled his lips into a mock pout. “I don’t meet expectations? I haven’t even been here five minutes, and I’m already being berated.” 

Jack chuckled. “He did mention you were the jokester type. Come on in. Team’s waiting to meet you.” He turned and walked down the halls, Six trailing behind him. The back of his jacket had a large 76 sewed into the design, Six noticed. Way to make your identity obvious, buddy… 

As they rounded the corner, the distant yelling from earlier and the strong scent of peanut butter grew much stronger. His grip on his staff grew tighter out of anxiety. He sighed deeply, straightening his back and holding his head high. Jack came to a stop in front of a doorway and typed a few keys into a keypad on the wall. Six noted the numbers and order before jotting them down in his Pip Boy. The door slid open, and Six was face to face with one of the stupidest things he had seen in awhile. 

A lanky, dirty young man was clinging onto one of the beams on the ceiling, yelling down at a very large man with a very large hook. Ash was falling from the boy on the ceiling, and there were traces of an explosion on the once white ceiling. Someone in a… cowboy getup… was laughing and smoking a cigar, while a woman with golden blonde hair was chastising the man on the ceiling. A young Korean girl was draped over one of the couches with a small handheld gaming console in her hands, poking a Brazilian man with large dreadlocks in the cheek repeatedly with her bare foot. A very large, very muscular man was bellowing with laughter while an older woman with an eye patch and a light blue hijab rested in a chair by her side. 

There were a lot of people in there, more than he could see, and he instantly much more anxious. As soon as Jack cleared his throat, the commotion stopped and everyone turned to look at them in the doorway. Six held his staff behind his back, both hands clutching onto it for dear life. 

_ ‘Don’t let them see your fear, don’t give them any weakness.’ _ He thought to himself, scanning them as they eyed him up and down. 

“You came!” A familiar voice rang out, and soon Hanzo was pushing through the colorful crowd. 

A small smile graced Six’s lips as Hanzo came up to him and engulfed him in a warm hug. He immediately melted into his friend’s embrace, keeping his staff in one hand as he wrapped his arms around the taller man. Hanzo laughed softly, almost in relief, as he stepped back and smiled at Six. 

“It’s been years…” Hanzo breathed, looking Six up and down. 

“That it has, my friend. I’m sorry for not coming to visit you more. Every time I thought I could go, another lead on Benny appeared. Just couldn’t let him get away.”

“Don’t worry yourself. All I’m concerned with is seeing you safe and alive.” He gently reached for Six’s chin and tilted his head up. “What happened here?” He asked, indicating the slashing scars starting on his neck and reaching up to his lips. Six chuckled. 

“Would you believe me if I said wendigo attack?” 

Hanzo sighed. “I would, knowing you. You need to take better care of yourself out there.”

“Wait, Hanzo, you know this guy?” Mr. Cowboy asked, taking a drag from his cigar. 

“Yes, I do.” Hanzo turned to face the group and placed a hand on Six’s shoulder. “This is the friend I told you all about. He will be joining us in finding the hacker who is after us.”

A smaller woman with spiky brown hair suddenly appeared in front of Six, startling him and causing him to hold his staff in front of himself defensively. Apparently she didn’t know what personal space was.

“Hanzo said you’re a magic man, is that true? What’s with the mask? Can you even see out of it? Are you really from Las Vegas?” She asked, questions rolling out at a mile a minute. Her brown eyes were large and curious, and a friendly grin adorned her freckled face. 

Six took a step back, raising his staff defensively on instinct. “Uh, too close. Yes, I’m a wizard, I wear the mask for personal reasons, yes, I can see out of it, and yes, I’m from Vegas. Who are you?”

“Oh, sorry! Got excited! Not often we get new teammates, y’know! I’m Lena, but you can call me Tracer!” She adjusted the orange lensed goggles on her face before reaching her hand out to shake. 

“Call me Six.” He shook her hand, immediately noticing that Little Miss Caffeine had a very strong grip. 

“Six? Is that g’nna be your codename?” Her English accent was ridiculously strong. It was almost comedic. 

“Uh, I guess so. It’s my name.” He chuckled awkwardly. 

The woman with golden hair he saw earler was next to approach him. If she wasn’t an angelic being, she could easily fit in with them. Her features were soft, almost motherly, and she seemed to glide when she walked. Her uniform gave her a pair of wings, only adding to the angel analogy. She held out her delicate hand for a shake, and Six almost wondered if she was even real. 

“I am Dr. Angela Ziegler, codename Mercy.” Six almost tripped over himself as he grasped her hand. How was this woman real?

“I-uh, h-hello. Nice t’meet ya.” He bowed his head before smiling at her. A light flush dusted his cheeks, though no one could really see it from the shadows of his hood. “You’re quite beautiful, miss. Er, doctor.” 

Mercy laughed, and it sounded like music. “Oh, you’re too kind. Welcome to the team.” 

One by one, everyone came up to him and introduced themselves. The weird guy on the ceiling was Jamie, his friend was Roadhog (no one knew his real name), the Korean girl was Hana, the other one Lucio, the wall of muscle was Reinhardt (who just INSISTED on giving his new team member a bone crushing hug, thank you very much), and the woman with the blue hijab was Ana. There was also Zarya, Torbjorn, Fareeha, Mei, Satya, and so. Many. More. Six didn’t realize exactly how large this team was. Memorizing these names was going to be hell. 

Six frowned when he came to the man in the cowboy getup, eying him up and down before humming. The man did the same to him, blowing out the smoke of his cigar away from the short newcomer. 

“You look familiar.” Six stated. “Who are you?”

“Jesse McCree, at your service.” McCree smiled and tipped his hat. 

“Wait, from Deadlock?” Six chuckled and rested a hand on his hip. “Well I’ll be damned.”

McCree frowned for a moment before recognition shifted his features. “Six? As in Courier Six?” He laughed heartily. “Yer still kickin’? Thought you went off the map.” 

“Did, for a while. Y’know that Benny kid from Tops? Shot me in the face.” Six chuckled. “Didn’t exactly kill me, now did he?” 

“I didn’t think you were dead quite yet.” McCree pulled Six into a hug, patting him on the back. “‘S good that you’re okay. Nice to have someone else who knows the desert ‘round here.” 

Six laughed before he pulled back, almost catching McCree’s serape on one of his belt buckles. As soon as he stepped back from McCree, he heard a small voice behind him, one that seemed familiar. Not in the same way as Jesse’s. This was a haunting sense of familiarity, and a chill ran down his spine. 

“This must be a trick.” A slightly robotic voice muttered, just loud enough to get Six’s attention. “It can’t really be you…”

Upon instinct, Six whirled around and held his staff to the neck of whoever it was behind him. A robotic man (not an omnic, he noted, they had a unique facial structure) stood in front of him. White and light grey metal platelets contrasted greatly against a greyish beige skin-tight bodysuit, and the person wore a helmet that completely covered his face. There was a green strip of translucent green glass over his eyes, but Six couldn’t quite see them. 

Realizing what he did, Six pulled back his staff and slipped the strap over his shoulder. He began apologizing profusely, bowing to them in an apologetic manner. 

“I’m sorry, it’s just an instinct-” He began before the robotic man set a hand on his shoulder. 

“Uh, what are you-” Six was once again interrupted, but this time by him speaking. 

“It can’t  _ really _ be you, right?” His visor caused his voice to sound metallic. Once again, Six got that chill down his back. “You were dead for years… This must be a trick.”

“Are you a fan of mine? They’re rare, but I’ve met a few…” Six furrowed his brows, a small smile gracing his lips as he gently brushed the man’s hand off of him.

“Hanzo, was this what you were talking about?” His shoulders shook with slight laughter. 

“Seriously, who are you?” Six stepped away from the masked man. “We don’t know each other, do we? I think I’d remember someone who glows neon green and resembles an XBox.”

“Your name is Courier Six, you’re from the Mojave, you went missing years ago, only to reappear out of nowhere.” The masked man shook his head. “This can’t be a coincidence, it  _ has _ to be him.” 

“Okay, this mumbling to yourself is just pissing me off. Who in the hell are you?!” Six shouted, losing his last nerve. 

“Six, there’s something I must tell you…” Hanzo spoke up, making his way across the room to stand at the masked man’s side. The other team members watched in curious silence, not knowing what exactly was unfolding in front of them. 

“What is this, Hanzo? Do you know what the hell he’s ramblin’ on about?” Six swallowed hard, readjusting his tight grip on his bo staff. 

Before Hanzo could speak, the robotic man shook his head and chuckled. 

“Take off your mask, please. I… I think we have met before.” 

“Again, never met a talking XBox, cochise.” 

He reached for the ends of his own visor. “I will if you will.” 

Six frowned and paused, considering it. He would have to show his team his face at some point. Might as well now. He sighed heavily, standing up straight from his defensive position and looking the man in the eye. 

“Fine. But only if you promise to stop speakin’ so cryptically.” He crossed his arms, and the man nodded. Six let out a deep breath before reaching for the end of his mask. 

“Of course. On the count of three.” He took in another deep breath. Why was he so nervous? 

“One.” The man began. 

“Two.” Six continued. 

“ _ Three. _ ” 

As promised, both removed their masks. Before bothering to look up, Six pulled out his glasses and put them on. Might as well see the weirdo clearly. 

Both sets of eyes widened as Six realized he was looking into the all too familiar eyes of Genji Shimada. It was him, it was definitely him. There was no mistaking that gleam in his eye. The eyes gave it away, despite the scars littered across his face. Six dropped the metal mask and took another step back, not paying any mind to the loud clanging noise his mask made as it his the floor. 

“N-no…” He laughed, apprehension shaking the sound. “No, this can’t be real. This is some joke, right…? Some cruel joke to rub salt in the wound? You’re dead, people don’t come back from the dead… Magic can’t even do that...” 

“I knew it…” Genji grinned, tears forming in the corners of his eyes. “It’s you.” 

Six shook his head, narrowing his eyes at Genji. Tears stung at his eyes, and his breathing became a lot shallower. His brows furrowed, only serving to make the sadness his glassy eyes contrast the expression he was attempting to create. 

“No… No! What-what is this?!” He said, voice cracking. “No, you can’t be standing here like everything’s okay! You were dead for  _ twelve years _ , Genji!”

“Six, please, listen to me-” Genji softly begged, reaching out for him. 

Six shook his head. “I’m sorry, but I’ll need a bit of time to process that a man I buried is standing at my feet.” He spat before turning on his heel and leaving through the closest door he could see. Genji tried to chase after him, but Hanzo’s hand on his shoulder stopped him. Turning back to his brother, Genji only saw a look of calm understanding. 

“Give him time, brother.” Hanzo murmured. Genji nodded, smiling softly as he looked back at the doorway Six had stormed out of. 

“He’s  _ alive _ .” He breathed, not realizing he was grinning.

 

\------------------------------------------------

 

_ ‘He’s alive.’ _ Six thought to himself for the umpteenth time.  _ ‘Living, breathing, alive.’ _

Perched in an odd manor on his staff, cross legged and seemingly floating (due to a gravity spell and some impressive thigh strength), Six stared out the vast, clear glass over the setting sun. The base, due to being located within a mountain range, had a gorgeous view of the valley between two of the ranges. A clear river ran through the tall grass, with small wildlife resting along its banks. Trees littered the vast open space, and what seemed like hundreds of various bird species were perched in their lush branches. The setting sun gave an orange glow over the untouched scene, the warmth of the sun’s rays warming Six. 

His pride laid discarded on the tile floor, along with his pack and several small talismans that had spilled out of the pocket from when he had unceremoniously tossed it on the ground. He had also tossed his hood back, allowing his dark, choppy hair to be exposed for the world to see. In the most basic sense, he felt vulnerable. 

Raw emotions swirled within him, a dead weight on his chest. The man he had loved despite being an ocean apart, who he had buried and mourned, was now standing before him. And now he was partly made of metal. Not that that was an issue, per se, but it was still… different. It was still his voice, his eyes, his smile. It was still  _ him _ . And just when he had begun to come to terms with his death… 

“If you’ve come to comfort me, there’s no point in trying. Leave me be.” He said to the figure he sensed behind him, not turning or looking away from the mountain scene. 

“I simply come to meditate. May I join you?” A calm, robotic voice asked politely. 

This voice was not Genji, this was one of an omnic. Six didn’t remember seeing an omnic when he was introduced to the team. Perhaps they weren’t part of the team and just someone who lived in the base. As the omnic floated (yes, _ floated _ ) to his left side, Six spared a glance down at him. Clearly, he was one of the Tekhartha monks located in Nepal, with large, robotic orbs floating around his head and loose cloth pants. Six had met some of them during his studies in Tibet. They were a wonderful group of people.

“You left this.” The omnic said as he handed Six his mask. He muttered his thanks, gently taking the mask in his hand.

Six turned his empty gaze back to the mountain scene, eyes following a deer as it guided its young to the river banks for a drink. There was a comfortable silence between the two as the omnic did exactly as he said he would and meditated. Neither one of them spoke nor moved for quite a long while, long enough for the sun to disappear behind the mountain range and the stars and moon to rise. Eventually, though, the omnic spoke. 

“This all must be a shock to you.” He said, breaking the silence in a soft voice. 

Six scoffed. “No kidding.”

“My pupil has spoken very highly of you.” The omnic chuckled. “He adores you.”

“You talkin’ ‘bout Hanzo?” Six glanced at the omnic, sarcasm in his tone. He turned his unwavering gaze to Six and shook his head gently.

“Genji.” If omnics could smile, then this one definitely would be. There was a sense of pride in his voice.

Six chuckled bitterly and looked back at the stars. “Of course.”

Another moment of silence hung over them.

“You have a name?” He asked, searching for constellations. 

“Tekhartha Zenyatta.” 

Six hummed before resting his forearms on the end of his staff. He let out a sigh, laying his head on his arms and ignoring how the metal fasteners within the cloth dug into his cheek. 

“So what’s your story?” Six asked, not looking away from the night sky. 

“Genji came to me after serving Overwatch before its fall. I helped him come to terms with who he is, and when he returned to Overwatch, he asked me to join him.” Zenyatta looked up at Six. “What is your tale?”

Six chuckled bitterly. “Asked for your’s, but alright. I got shot in the head by some Vegas crook who stole my package and left me for dead. Dunno how exactly that got me involved in politically fueled warfare, but it did. While I was MIA, Genji was declared dead. Nothin’ more to me, ‘m afraid.” 

“That is not true.” Zenyatta said, causing Six to look over at him. “From what I’ve been told, you are a powerful soul with a heart of gold. You love novelties and animals, and are keenly adept at the magical arts. Despite the secrets you hold, you are very honest, and loving.”

“Shut up.” Six tried to sound menacing, but his voice cracked. “You don’t know anything about me.” 

“Genji spoke of you frequently. He mourned you quite often, but would speak of how much he cared for you.” 

“What’re you getting at? That I should just accept that he’s been alive this whole time while I knelt at his headstone? ‘M afraid it ain’t that easy.” Six shook his head, feeling more tears threatening to fall. 

“All I ask is that you give my student a chance. He is still the person you knew, though he has gone through great change.” 

Zenyatta was a patient man. He had to have been to keep up with Genji. What he was saying was what Six wanted to do. He wanted to just run into Genji’s arms and pretend that everything was alright. But he had lost so much time, so many years, regretting not being there to stop the fight, begging for it not to be true, refusing to accept the reality in front of him. He couldn’t just forget those empty ten years. 

“How do you know that Genji still is who he was? How do you know he still cares about me?” Six muttered, absentmindedly tracing a small rune into thin air. Orange sparks flew from the small, delicate lines of the circular design. 

Zenyatta gave a small laugh. “There are some things that do not need to be known to be true.”

Six laughed. “God, you really are a monk. You’re alright, Zenyatta.”

He looked down at the omnic and met his gaze. Zenyatta nodded in gratitude before reaching down and picking up Six’s spilled items. Six gracefully landed his feet on the ground and caught his staff before it fell, grabbing his mask and gratefully taking his bag from Zenyatta’s surprisingly warm hands. Six bowed to him, a motion which the omnic mirrored with a sense of grace. 

“I’ll see ya ‘round, Zen. Got some thinkin’ to do.” Six turned to leave before pausing and turning around. “Uh, now that I think about it, I’m not sure where I’m staying. Mind if you show me to the dorms?”

“Not a problem. They are right this way.” 

 

\------------------------------------------

 

Because of his many augmentations, Genji didn’t really have much of a need for sleep nowadays. As such, he spent most of his nights either in silent meditation or looking to the stars. It had been one of Six’s favorite pastimes during his visits to Hanamura, and despite it having been many, many years, Genji could still recall several of the constellations. That night, he had opted for a mix of the two, after failing to properly meditate. 

A sense of apprehensive giddiness had overcome him in the hours since his discovery about Six. While a tad bit hurt by his lashing out, Genji knew well that he would likely do the same in his situation. He had had no real proof of Six’s supposed death beside an offhand comment, while Six had Hanzo’s testimony and the blood that stained the walls of that building in Hanamura. At the same time, he was more than overjoyed that his love was still alive. He was concerned beyond belief at the mass amount of scars that littered his face and neck, the only visible sections of his pale skin. In his years of serving in Overwatch, he had seen more than a few bullet scars. They were very distinct, and the ones littering Six’s forehead were as well. Genji could only silently fret over what happened to the poor Courier. 

It was in the early hours of the morning when a knock on his door pulled him out of his thoughts. Dawn hadn’t quite begun, but the stars were beginning to recede. Very few of his team members, minus Jack, were ever up at this hour. He quietly stood from his position on one of his floor mats and answered the door wordlessly, eyes widening behind his visor as he saw Six on the other side of the door.

“Look, we need to talk…” Six muttered, averting eyes with Genji and glancing off towards the floor with his arms crossed. 

Genji was near speechless for a brief moment before nodding and stepping to the side, allowing Six through the doorway. His steps were elegant and very controlled, his masked face held high and his back straightened. There was a grace to his movements, but Genji could also feel a deep sadness radiating from him. He stopped in front of the window and crossed his wrists behind his back wordlessly. Every move seemed planned and forced, as if he was doing his best to keep his composure. Genji couldn’t really blame him. He turned after shutting the door, facing the lover he had thought he had lost many years ago. 

What seemed like an eternity passed before Six spoke up. His voice was soft, a volume so quiet that Genji could hardly hear him. 

“I’m really not sure how to have this conversation… I’ve lost a lot in my days. Whenever people I love die, they usually stay dead, you know? The fact you’re standing here right now… It’s a lot to comprehend.” 

In the soft moonlight, Genji could see a tear escape from under Six’s elegant mask and drip underneath his clenched jaw. He took his place by Six’s side, careful of his scars as he wiped it away. Six flinched briefly, before easing into the notion. He continued his thought.

“I mean- shit, I buried you, Green. You were  _ gone _ , and you left thinking I was, too…” He swallowed hard, trying in vain to keep his voice even. “As much as I want to be able to just run into your arms and pretend like nothing happened, I-I just can’t do that… I can’t take back the years I spent at your headstone, begging for this not to be real…” 

Genji remained silent as he waited for Six to finish his thought, knowing his love far too well. He always had a lot to say, after all, though Genji was fighting tears of his own beneath that visor.

“I just keep waiting for this to be another cruel dream. I’m just going to wake up in the Mojave like I always do, and you’ll still be gone…” His voice finally cracked, and he desperately choked back a sob. “Dreams like this have happened before…”

“This isn’t a dream, Six…” Genji said, turning Six to face him. “This is real,  _ I _ am real. We’re both living and breathing. I’ve come back to you…” 

He took his hands off of Six’s shoulders to remove his visor, the soft hissing sounds of releasing steam and Six’s sobs hitching being the only sound. He tossed the visor off to the side, and gingerly removed Six’s, before looking him directly in those milky white eyes and gently holding his greatly scarred face in his metallic hands. 

“I’m right here. We aren’t reliving the same dreams we’ve had over and over again… I’m here, Six, and I love you.” Genji’s voice was soft and genuine, tears falling from both of their eyes. Six smiled and gave a small laugh. 

“My name is Cecil…” He whispered, cupping Genji’s cheek. 

His brown eyes widened and his brows raised. Six- no,  _ Cecil _ , had just revealed his name. Something he swore he could never do, for both of their safety. A name is a powerful thing to a wizard, and as far as Genji knew, he was the only one who knew his real name. At least, one of them. He remembered him telling him long ago that his full name was very long, but he had one of his names nonetheless. 

“Cecil…” Genji breathed, a smile curving his lips upward and his brows furrowing together in happiness. “ _ Cecil. _ ” He repeated, voice breaking in sheer joy. 

Neither one hesitated to close the gap between them, their kiss desperate and full of pure love. Six pressed his shorter body flush against Genji, wanting nothing more than to feel the touch he had been deprived of for so long. One of Genji’s arms tangled in Six’s short, soft hair, drawing him in closer, while the other wrapped itself tightly around his slim waist. Six clung to him, trying to get as close as he possibly could. He was the one to deepen the kiss, feeling Genji melt into his touch. 

It felt different to both of them, due to Genji’s metal alloys, but it was perfect nonetheless. After a moment, the two slowly broke apart, looking into each other’s eyes. Six could see so much love in Genji’s dimly lit eyes, and in turn Genji saw the raw emotion through the glassy spell over Six’s irises.

“God, I missed this.” Six whispered, rubbing his thumb over one of the deep scars on Genji’s cheekbone. He leaned into Six’s touch, smiling uncontrollably. 

“あなたは私にとってとて大事な存在です...(You mean so much to me)” Genji murmured, gently kissing the corner of Six’s torn lips. 

“I love you, too, Green. More than you could ever know…”


	4. Incident

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> woops the angst is back

In the handful of months since his arrival at Overwatch, it became painfully obvious to the other members how much those two loved each other. While Genji’s more reserved nature held back the PDA, the way they would look and speak at each other made it obvious to anyone who saw them in the same room as each other. It was  almost gross to watch, but given their circumstances, it was understandable. 

Six had regretfully found very little on Sombra, which the hacker was probably glad about. At the rate they were going, he’d have to call in some more tech savvy friends of his. He still wasn’t exactly sure what Overwatch was wanting from him. He’s a marksman and a sorcerer, tech isn’t exactly his forte. However, what he had managed to find gave him quite a lot of leverage on her. 

He figured out her name. 

Now, of course, he could understand and respect why she kept her name hidden. He did the same thing, after all, though for different reasons. While she wouldn’t be in danger from a myriad of malevolent magical creatures should her name get released, she likely had her identity buried for her job. Or for more personal reasons. Six didn’t really care too much. The point was, no matter how hard pressed he was by his new teammates, they would never know Sombra’s true name. No one needed to know, just like no one needed to know his own name.

He also had a vague clue about her physical appearance, and that she was smart enough to change her looks to the point where facial scans couldn’t identify her. She was a clever little thing, Six would give her that. Knew what kind of life she was living, and adapted herself to it. 

However, along those lines, Six also knew he could probably coax her into backing down if he could only meet her face to face. When she wasn’t taunting him behind a computer screen. Though, her taunts did nothing, as she couldn’t even find Six’s code name. As far as the digital world knew, Six didn’t exist. He was only a ghost story in the Mojave, passed along by word of tongue throughout the world. Besides, even if Sombra could determine that it was Courier Six after her, she still wouldn’t have much on him. Again, he was only a character, a legend mothers tell their children at night. Nothing she did could truly get to him. And both of them knew it.

The mission he was currently preparing for would be the one where he met Sombra, he hoped. A team of Overwatch agents was going to storm a Talon base, one where Sombra was suspected to be hiding, to retrieve information about Talon’s future plans. Most likely, she wasn’t there, but he still held onto the chance. 

As this was his first mission in the field, he figured he should arm himself to the tooth as opposed to the loose cloth robes he typically donned. Instead, he opted for more of a mixture of that and his classic look. Sleek, black carbon fiber armor pieces were fastened around his chest, upper thighs, and forearms, the crisscrossing pattern matching the mask he usually wore. A dark jumpsuit covered him up to below his jaw, enveloping his arms in the soft cloth. His brown leather gloves left only the tips of his index and middle fingers exposed. A black leather duster- not his original one, no point in potentially ruining that- rested on his shoulders, and a helmet designed similarly to his Courier’s helmet was fastened securely around his head. His Pip Boy was securely strapped to his left forearm, the faint green lights reflecting off his dark clothing. Across his shoulders were his bo staff and a sniper rifle, and stuck in his elaborate leather belt were several small pistols, ammo clips, and throwing knives. He zipped up his knee high boots and double checked his weapons and ammunition before heading off to where the rest of his team was waiting for him. 

Genji was, of course, the first to greet him, resting his forehead on Six’s- a form of mock kiss without him having to remove his visor in front of others. Six smiled beneath his helmet and wordlessly took Genji’s hand in his, leading the two to the open door of the revving jet. Once inside, he saw who all he was teamed with: Genji, Hanzo, Jack, Ana, Satya, and Hana. A more offensive group, he noted. He’d have to play defense this time, to his annoyance. 

The ride to the Talon base was long and quiet, with the exception of the soft music playing from Six’s Pip Boy. One of the benefits of his lifestyle: always having quality music. An occasional strategy was spoken, but they had already gone over battle strategies before takeoff, so it was just review. Mostly Jack just making sure everyone knew what they were doing. 

As far as Six was concerned, Jack was just trying to make sure that he didn’t get himself into trouble. The old soldier had become a sort of fatherly figure for him as the two bonded over tales of days past and drinks. The two easily empathized with each other, both having fought and loved and lost. Six felt he could confide in Jack, and in turn, Jack in Six. There was an unspoken trust between the two, a pledge to look out for each other in any ways they could. As such, Jack knew that Six sought out trouble, opting for what he deemed the most fun way of doing things instead of the most practical. Six had lived a long time, longer than anyone really knew, and because of that, he always looked for the most entertaining route to take. Jack often chastised him for his reckless behavior on the battlefield, trying to tell him that he’d die if he kept this up. 

The jet finally landed on the rooftop of the Talon building, the poor workers not realizing that they had just damned the entire building. Ana was quick to tranquilize the handful of workers, choosing to spare their lives instead of needlessly killing. The team leapt off the jet, not turning to watch as it flew off to a safer location. Reaching a control panel, Six reached under his glove and removed the talisman on his wrist, watching as the panel short circuited and he heard the lockdown program activate. Before the rooftop’s door inside could close, he tossed one of his small bombs, and watched from the corner of his eye as the metal door was flung off its hinges. The team swiftly dashed inside, taking out any and all Talon agents they saw. 

Six was swift to leave the group and go off on his own, using a small stealth charm to avert any attention drawn to him. He nimbly maneuvered through groups of Talon agents, rushing to defend their base from the attackers. As far they could see, Six was just another agent going back to the weapons locker, another faceless man in their numerous ranks. 

He could hear the damage his teammates were dealing both through the comm built into his helmet and echoing through the halls. Rounding the corner, he saw the door to their weapons locker swung wide open, not a soul in sight. Poor idiots. 

_ ‘Might as well take their toys away,’ _ Six thought to himself. 

With his stealth charm still activated, he slipped into the empty locker and delicately placed several of his golf ball sized bombs around the corners of the room. He idly whistled to a old, old tune as he strode out of the room, pulling the mass detonator out of his inner jacket pocket. One he was a safe distance away, he pressed the small button and smiled to himself as he heard the explosion rattle the entire floor. He kept whistling as he slid down the staircase railing, trying to get himself in the action. To be honest, his plan was to eliminate as many of Talon’s men as he could. He made it a little game, trying to distance himself from the atrocities he was committing. Dehumanize them in the moment, mourn them and regret later.

As soon as he reached the floor below, he pulled out two of the pistols wedged in his belt and aimed them in front of him. He took a shot forward, watching idly as the Talon agent fell to the floor. The other agents surrounding him yelped as his limp body hit the floor before turning to Six and opening fire. He ducked behind the doorway, sticking his arm out and firing until his clip was empty and the gunfire stopped. Peering around the doorway and seeing them all dead on the floor, Six left his cover and reloaded the empty clip as he strode down the hallway. 

“Sombra, Widowmaker, and Reaper.” He murmured to himself as a reminder. “That’s who we’re looking for.” 

He could hear Hanzo from the floor below, and it sounded like he was swarmed. Might as well help a friend in need, he figured as he made his way down to the next floor. 

As he thought, Hanzo was surrounded by Talon agents. He could only fire his arrows so fast, and it seemed that for every agent he shot down, two more appeared. Sweat had gathered on his forehead and he was breathing heavily, relentless in his attacks. Six decided to flank them from the back, silent in his approach and in his attack. 

What he wasn’t expecting was for Hanzo to summon his spirit dragons  _ right in Six’s direction, _ which is where most of the agents happened to be. Six stopped his attack as he saw the giant ethereal dragons barreling straight towards him. 

“ _ Hoo boy. _ ” Six breathed.

“竜川的の蔵雄！” Hanzo cried, seemingly not noticing Six amidst the Talon agents.

“Hanzo, st-” He started to say before the one of the dragons plowed straight into him, launching him back at the concrete wall that was about twelve feet behind him. He involuntarily made an “Oof!” noise as the wind was knocked straight out of him. His head slammed against the wall, shattering his helmet and knocking it off to the side. The concrete crumbled around him, and as he fell to the ground, so did large chunks of the broken concrete. 

He could feel his staff snap on impact with the ground, as well as his spine. Thick stray steel wires impaled his chest, causing him to unwillingly cough up a gracious amount of blood. He felt both of his legs and his right arm get crushed by the rubble, his bones making a sickening crunch as the heavy rubble flattened his limbs. Blood steadily flowed out of his many wounds, and he nearly choked on it, turning his head to his left side to let the seemingly never ending blood flowing out of his mouth. He coughed again, spraying blood over the concrete. Six’s voice was hoarse as he tried to call out to Hanzo in vain. 

He glanced over to where his broken helmet lay, next to one of the corpses of the Talon agents hit by Hanzo’s attack. The metallic stench of blood assaulted Six’s broken nose. It was all he could see, feel, taste, smell. Blood,  _ his _ blood, was everywhere. His vision blurred, and his head ached. Black spots danced in his field of vision, and nausea settled in the parts of his stomach that weren’t currently impaled. It hurt, everything hurt, everything was in pain and he was dying. The pain became almost numbing as it shot through his veins. 

Six could feel himself bleeding out, but thanks to his healing factor, he was still alive. Still breathing, even with punctures lungs. Heart still beating, despite the heavy blood loss. Still conscious and thinking, somehow. By all means, he should have died instantly. No regular man could withstand this amount of pain, these fatal wounds, for longer than a few seconds. 

With labored breaths, Six turned to look at the screen on his Pip Boy. A large crack and all of its fractals branched out from the bottom right corner, but it still functioned. With great difficulty, Six managed to slip the device off of his arm and set it to his left, where he could see it. The harsh, green lights were hard on his eyes, but he toughed it out. It wasn’t exactly the worst thing he had going for him right now. He flicked on the radio to act as both entertainment and a sort of homing beacon, smiling weakly upon hearing his favorite radio personality’s smooth voice. Nothing like Mr. New Vegas to keep you going.

What seemed like an eternity passed before Six heard heels clicking down the empty halls. Whomever owned said heels clicked their way over to where they could hear Six’s radio. It was a small noise, but it was still noticeable, apparently.  Six weakly turned his head to whoever it was approaching him, only to see a woman with… literal blue skin. Great, he was bleeding excessively and now there was an alien. What else weird could happen? Wait, he’d tempted fate like that before, best not to repeat that. Her hair (he assumed the person was a she) was pulled behind her head in a tight, uniform ponytail. It swished with her movements behind her lean figure. She donned a tight purple bodysuit that left her chest rather exposed. Odd design choice, but alright. He could tell from the visor on her head and the hardly visible tattoo on her wrist that her getup was based on a spider motif. 

“Widowmaker, I assume?” His voice was just as hoarse as one would expect. The woman stared down at him, examining his poor condition. 

“Not often I see someone survive a blow like that. Who are you?” She demanded, a French accent heavy on her lips. Yup, she was Widowmaker. 

“Courier Six, at yer service.” He gave a weak, mocking salute with his left hand. 

Widowmaker chuckled, the corners of her fixed lips curving upwards. “A ghost story. I was told that you were dead.”

“Heard the same ‘bout you, Mrs. Lacroix.” Six’s tone was dry, contrasting the weak smile on his lips. 

“How do you know that name?” Widowmaker crossed her arms over her exposed chest. “Amelie Lacroix is dead and gone.”

“I’m an information broker. It’s what I do.” He coughed, small amounts of blood flying with the motion. “Apologies. Can’t really help that, given the current situation.” He weakly motioned to his bleeding torso. 

She chuckled, though Six could tell it was empty. “I am impressed. You are strong to have survived this long, yet your team doesn’t seem to have noticed your absence.”

“Eh. I’m not too worried about it.” Six met her icy gaze. “Say, while I’ve got you here, how ‘bout we make a bargain?”

“A bargain? The dying man wishes a deal?” She raised a brow. “You are one foolish courier to make such a request so easily.” 

Taking a seat on one of the larger pieces of rubble, Widowmaker crossed her legs and looked Six in the eye. Confidence radiated off of her as she straightened her back, looking down on the fallen Courier. 

“I suppose I’ll entertain you. A dying man can give near anything, if desperate enough. What is your bargain?” A miniscule smile appeared on her dark lips. 

“I need Sombra’s help tracking down someone who hurt me. I’m willing to release almost any information you need in exchange.” He chuckled dryly. “Though I’m afraid I don’t have much dirt on Overwatch. Only been ‘bout three months since I joined.”

Widowmaker leaned forward and frowned, searching Six’s face for any sign of a lie. After finding nothing, she hummed. 

“You seek the assistance of your enemy, and offer to be traitorous to your allies? Even knowing who you are speaking to? You truly are a foolish man.” 

“Nah, I just know who can and can’t help me. Overwatch is too goody two shoes to search in the underground. I’m looking for a Vegas kingpin named Benny Gecko, and Overwatch has nothing on him or any of Vegas’ underground politics.” 

“That does not surprise me.” She seemed to consider his deal. “How do I know you will uphold your end of the bargain?”

“I’ll give it to you here and now,if I can. I can also tell you what my weakness is. That way, if I cross you or don’t satisfy, you’ll know exactly where to hit me. Plus, you could always just shoot me now and carry on with your life.” 

She hummed. “That does sounds tempting.”

Six laughed, though it sounded odd. “Come on, Amelie, we both know I’m too valuable for you to off here and now. Any underground info you could ever want, all at the cost of asking Sombra for a quick and easy favor.”

“Even if I took you up on your proposal, who is to say Sombra would do what you ask? She is rather fickle.” 

“You have a lot of counterpoints, lady. You know what you’re getting yourself into.” Six chuckled. “Why not bring her here and ask her herself? She’s in the building causing trouble for my friends, yes?” 

Widowmaker hummed. “That she is.” She sighed. “I might as well. You do have a lot of information, I can tell.” 

_ ‘Ah, it’s so lovely when they fall for my bluff,’ _ Six thought to himself.  _ ‘Any underground info they have came from McCree, and everything McCree knows, he got from me or the Deadlocks. And they hardly know anything. Goody goody.’ _

A brief moment later, a pinkish purple flicker appeared near Widowmaker, and soon after a shorter woman flickered into reality. She was a stark contrast to her French counterpart, though they both had a purple motif. Her half shaven hair was an ombre fade from black into a lighter purple, and a pink device was wrapped around the shaven half of her head. Her sharp features were curved into a smirk, rich brown eyes contrasting against her bright eye makeup. Six could tell before she said anything that she was from Mexico. And dear god, was she a pretty one, and he knew she had a mind to match.

“So,  _ hombre, _ you want something from me?” She said, cocking her hip out and resting her hand on it. 

“Indeed, if you don’t mind. I’d like for you to find someone for me, and in exchange, I can give you information that even  _ you _ don’t have access to.” He closed his eyes as he smiled. “You don’t know underground Vegas like I do, and you don’t know your potential allies.”

“Ooo, new friends? I can always use more of those.” She leaned on some of the highly stacked rubble crushing Six’s legs, adding more pressure onto the numb limbs. 

“I can only hope you’ll find one of those friends in me,  _ mademoiselle. _ I can be quite useful when I want to be.” He paused, considering his next move like this was poker. Hell, all of life was poker to him. “There is also something I can offer only you, Sombra.” 

She raised a brow and leaned in closer. “Presents?”

“Protection, though there can be presents as well, provided I get out from under this rubble.” He smiled. “I’ll protect your name from public ears.” 

Her eyes widened for a brief moment, her facade falling before she recovered herself and laughed. It was forced, he could tell, but he made no comment. 

“Threatening me? There’s no way you know my name,  _ amigo _ . No one knows.” A confident smirk took her face as she crossed her arms. 

“Really? Not even your ‘friends’?” Six feigned surprise, meeting Sombra’s fretting gaze. 

“Prove it. Prove that you know my name.” Her tone turned gravely serious. Six motioned for her to come closer, so as not to let dear Amelie hear. As his whisper ghosted over her ear, her eyes widened and her pupils shrank. She swiftly grabbed Six’s neck, her nails digging into his flesh as he gagged. 

“How did you learn that name?!” She shouted, and Widowmaker’s brows raised in surprise. This man had really found Sombra’s name? He was more valuable than she thought. 

_ Simple telepathy, _ he wanted to say. 

“ _ Los Muertos _ .” He actually said, though his voice was even more strained than it had been. His words were hardly audible due to Sombra’s tightening grip.

Sombra let him go, staring at him as he coughed up blood for the umpteenth time in the past hour. Good thing he really didn’t care about this getup. Wasn’t even his, really. A miniscule smile appeared on his bloodied lips as he met eyes with Sombra. 

“Doesn’t feel so good when your own tactics are used against ya, hmm? Don’t worry, I know how dirty it feels. Really hate having to resort to that, but I know how our type works. Gotta hit ya hard and fast to get you to listen.” 

“Who is it I’m supposed to find?” She asked in a low tone, barely managing to keep her cool composure. 

“Benny Gecko. Vegas kingpin, used to work out of Tops Casino. Though I swear, if he’s been hiding there for years, I’m gonna be pissed. Has past connections to the Great Khans gang, though they had little to say when I interrogated them.” Six coughed again. “Also, I have a small favor I must ask of you, Mrs. Lacroix.” 

Widowmaker raised her gaze from her phone to Six and raised a brow. When did she get that out?

“Pass along a message to Gabriel for me. Tell him I think I might know what’s going on with his body. The whole cell regeneration and degeneration thing.”

“You know of his condition?” She asked, suddenly curious. 

“Sweets, how do you think we’ve been able to talk this long without me bleedin’ to death?” Six grinned. “I’ve got a genetic mutation that allows my cells to regenerate at a rapid rate. I think Gabriel might have something similar. Though, I won’t know for sure til I see it for myself.” 

“Genetic mutation? Are you kidding me?” Sombra asked, folding her arms. “Jesus, you’re a talented liar,  _ amigo _ .”

“I really do wish I was lying, cochise. Here, I can prove it.” He raised his left arm. “Hit me, make a cut or something.”

“You’re serious?”

Six nodded. Sombra shrugged before slashing a small cut onto Six’s exposed forearm, causing him to hiss in pain. As he had said, the wound healed itself up in a matter of seconds, leaving only the small trail of blood that had dripped from the cut on his skin.

Widowmaker let out a low laugh. “You are full of surprises, Courier. I will pass your message, but only out of concern for my colleague.”

“Aw, you care for Gabey?” Sombra teased, seemingly back to her usual mask. 

“Hush.” She stood with grace. “I’m afraid we must leave. Goodbye,  _ monsieur _ .” 

Six gave her another salute with his left hand. “ _ Adieu, mademoiselles. _ ” 

In another flash, the two purple women were gone, and Six was left on his own again. He let out a sigh, the motion scraping the steel wire against the tissue of his lungs. However, he just didn’t care anymore. He lazily turned up the volume of his radio, shutting his eyes as Frank Sinatra played through the poor quality speakers of the Pip Boy. His eyes burned from the empty tears he had involuntarily shed at the intensity of the pain. If he fell asleep, fine by him. If he didn’t wake up at all, even better. Before the two Talon women had arrived, Six had recorded a series of audio logs on the Pip Boy to be played for whoever finds him, if anyone. Someone’d notice he was gone eventually. 

Probably.

 

\--------------------------------------------

 

There was an eerie silence throughout the building as the Overwatch team reached the ground floor, the desired information tucked away on a small disc provided by Winston. As they moved back up the staircase, most didn’t even think about the fact that they were missing Six. Genji figured that he was already on the roof, waiting for them with a sarcastic remark and a grin on his face. He wasn’t too terribly worried. 

Though, that did change once they noticed that the jet was there, and Six was nowhere to be found. 

Then he panicked. 

The team was quick in dividing themselves up to search for him, each rushing to get through the building as fast as possible, in case he was in any sort of trouble. Hana had ditched her mech on the rooftop in favor of quicker mobility, and most had dropped whatever they had to search for their missing teammate. 

The one to finally notice the radio was Jack, and he didn’t hesitate to bolt after the only sound in the building aside from the shaky air vents and their panicked footsteps. He could recognize Six’s music anywhere; it was old, even for someone Jack’s age. 

As he rounded the corner to the source of the noise, he saw Six’s cracked helmet at the bottom of the giant pile of rubble, as well as the blood that was continuously spilling down the broken stone. Immediately, he assumed the worst as he approached the pile of rubble. There, he saw Six in his battered and bruised state. His gloved hand was draped over his chest, in between two of the steel beams protruding from him. Despite the horrid condition he was in, his face looked peaceful, even with all of the blood. Jack saw his chest rise and fall, and almost collapsed in relief. 

“I found him, he’s alive. Barely. I need medical assistance, putting out a distress signal.” Jack said into his comms, deploying a distress beacon and working on trying to push the rubble off of his friend. 

Six stirred upon his friend’s shout. He slowly opened his eyes, honestly hoping for death, and grinning weakly when he saw Jack. 

“Ah, fuck. ‘Bout time you assholes showed up…” He said, voice even weaker than it had been. “Almost gave up on ya…”

“We’ll get you out of here alive, kid,” Jack reassured in a panicked voice, doing little to actually comfort Six. “I promise, you’re gonna be alright!”

“Really was hoping I’d die this time…” He muttered, disappointment in his voice.

Six could hear more distant footsteps clammering on the tile floors as the rest of his team showed up. The sounds echoed through the halls, and only served to worsen his dull headache. He’d been there for god knows how long and the damned thing hadn’t let up. Genji was the first of them to arrive, and he was definitely the most distraught. 

“Six! What happened to you?!” He cried as he began pulling as much as he could off of his love. 

“Dragons…” Six whispered, barely audible above the falling concrete chunks. He was beginning to black out, and as such, he started making less and less sense. “Pack a punch…”

“Dragons?!” Jack questioned. 

“Could he mean your weird glowy dragons?” Hana asked from within her mech that she had retrieved while she was offscreen, doing whatever she could to get the larger pieces of rubble out of the way. “The ones from your tattoos.”

“The spirit dragons?” Hanzo questioned. 

Six didn’t exactly pay attention to the rest of their conversation, as the black spots were now starting to overtake his vision. The last thing he heard before succumbing to his wounds was Genji and Jack’s scurrying to dig him out, and he felt a small prick from (presumably) one of Ana’s healing bullets. He could faintly hear Hana yelp as his head fell to the side limply.    
“Hang in there, kid, we’ve got you!” Ana shouted as she began to lift his body off of the steel wires. He felt another small prick near his chest wounds, and a pair of arms scoop him up from the steel wires. Her voice was quiet to Six, and soon, the world went black. 


	5. Audio Logs

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i legit forgot i even posted this on here lmao
> 
> i'm gonna post the rest of it now i'm s sorry to the like. 2 people who might have been waiting for this. 
> 
> also, fun game: figure out all the self insert references in this chapter. winner gets nothing

As soon as the team reached their home base, Jack and Genji scurried to get Six in Angela’s hands. Six’s bloodied body was cradled in Jack’s arms, much to Genji’s dismay. Six was  _ his  _ partner, not Jack’s, and the father-son type bond they had meant nothing to his pang of jealousy. The Pip Boy was still faintly playing music, as no one had bothered to shut it off. The calm, smooth jazz did not suit the panicked situation at hand in the slightest, though it added a tad bit of humor.

When Six was laid onto Angela’s table, the first thing she did was kick everyone else out, forcing Genji to take his Pip Boy with him. While she understood his desire to be in there by his lover’s side, Angela was afraid he would interfere with the necessary operations, so he was forced to stay outside. Besides, she was right. Genji would have hovered over her every move, likely making his treatment take longer.

And that is how Genji found himself in the halls of the base’s medicinal wing, cradling the cracked Pip Boy in his hands. He had shut off the radio (as soon as he had figured out how) and now was just staring at the device. As long as he had known Six, he had had this machine strapped to his wrist. Six had never really explained what exactly it did, other than act as a radio and a sort of tablet device at times. There were recorded logs under a page in the Radio section, each with short names. “Log 10/10/76,” etc. He also had several hours worth of radio recorded for when he had no signal. People could send him messages through it, but he couldn’t respond from the Pip Boy itself. He couldn’t make calls with it, or send emails, or any other sort of message. If he could, maybe he would have used it to call for help when he was hit… 

Absentmindedly, Genji flipped through the various screens of the Pip Boy and read everything he could. Six had lists of items he had on him, records of deliveries and other miscellaneous jobs he had done. Sometimes, he would type out the rare journal entry, but it seemed he preferred to record himself talking. Knowing Six, he probably thought it was easier. The entries in this machine went back over years, and skipped ahead to years that hadn’t even occurred yet. However, they were organized by the order they were written and/or recorded in. Genji felt awful snooping through his lover’s private journals, but something was compelling him to look. He could just apologize to Six when he woke up. 

_ ‘ _ If _ he wakes up…’ _ Genji bitterly thought, trying to swallow back another fit of tears. He had cried enough that day; he wasn’t sure he even had any more tears to shed. 

Trying to steer his mind away from such negativity, he flipped to a random audio log and hit play. There was static through the speakers before Six’s voice flowed from the poor quality speakers. 

_ “December sixth, year 2064. Hour, probably around 2 am. Not really sure.” Six chuckled, and there was a sound of swishing liquid in a glass bottle. “I hate travellin’ north for deliveries. I’m up near the Great Lakes, and I think I crossed the border into Canada. It’s cold as shit up here, but it’s not botherin’ me too much. This’s one of the few deliveries where they actually told me what ‘m carryin’. Some Native American artifact that was stolen from one of the Algonquian tribes up here. It’s a little totem piece, ‘bout a foot long. The carving is beautiful. I’m gonna have to remember to snap a pic to send to Genji.”  _

_ Six chuckled. “I really wish I could get around to Hanamura more often. I miss those two more than I really care to admit.” _

_ There was a pause before he spoke again, voice much lower and melancholy. “I don’t know why I let myself get so attached. With the life I live, I can’t afford to fall for someone halfway across the world in a dimension I plan on leaving behind. I’ve just got to push things in the right direction here before I head off to wherever else needs me. Time and interdimnesiary travel gets complicated, and loving someone only ends in both of us getting hurt if they find out the truth about me. Genji’s a sweet guy, I don’t want to end up breaking his heart. _

_ “Honestly, I almost want to hate this life. Sure, I help people, and sure, I do things no one else can, but I just leave a trail of blood and broken hearts in my path. Am I even really human after all this? I lost track of how many people I’ve killed long ago. No human being would ever do the things I have. God, I should just die.” He bitterly chuckled. “Ah, wait, I can’t. Doomed to a fate of immortality. If I die here, I’ll just wake up the next day like nothing happened. Anyone else can, but not lil old me.”  _

_ He sighed deeply. “Man, if someone ever listens to these, I pity the poor fuck. Look, if you’re listening, and you ain’t a version of me who got knocked too hard on the head, you’re now stuck with my secret. Try and tell people, they won’t fucking believe you. They never believe me.” He laughed. “They have a hard enough time trying to figure out the magic thing. This is Courier Six, signing off.” _

There was more static for a few seconds, and the log ended. Well. Now Genji had something else to think about. 

Six was an immortal time traveler? Are you fucking kidding? Six, the sarcastic twat who claimed he was from the desert, traveled through time and space on a regular basis. Now that he thought about, Genji supposed that that made a lot of sense, considering the everything about Six. How reluctant he is to talk about his childhood, aside from living in Vegas, how there were sometimes holes and inconsistencies in his stories, how he knew so much about most everything. However, that only raised more questions. How did Six travel through time or space? How old really is Six? Does Six even remember? Does he have any other lovers in different dimensions? Now  _ that _ was a weird thought. Based on what he said in the log, it seemed probable… 

Deciding that dwelling on it wouldn’t help anything, Genji scrolled up to a different log and pressed play, hearing the same few seconds of static before Six spoke. 

_ “March 13, year 2016. Hour 0800. I swear, if I get caught in another time loop like this one, I’m gonna punch a dog. Okay, not really, but you get my point. _

_ “I’ve been reliving the same eleven days over and over again. I think this is supposed to be a dating game in real life kind of thing. I hate travelling to those dimensions. I don’t even know how I ended up in this one, honestly. I just woke up to a text from some Korean guy telling me to go to some dead girl’s apartment and now I’m stuck here. _

_ “I’ve been stuck in this charity group that has a hell of a lot of shady shit hiding behind it. This dead girl (I think her name’s Rika? I don’t care enough to remember) left behind all of her work and supposedly killed herself two years ago. Yeah, sure. I was in the fucking FBI, I know when someone’s playing dead. Done it enough times myself to testify.  _

_ “All I know about this timeline is that I’m supposed to ‘fall in love’ with all five members of the RFA (the charity organization) in order to get out of this time loop. Not exactly sure how I figured that out, but it seems to be working. So far I’ve ‘romanced’ two of the members, Zen and Yoosung. Zen’s an actor who’s head is so far up his own ass I could easily mistake him for a Republican. Jokes aside, he’s a nice enough guy who treated me pretty well. Yoosung is a sweet college kid who’s gotten caught up in a lot of tragedy. He’s the dead chick’s cousin. Apparently they were close, which is only rubbing salt in the poor kid’s wound.  _

_ “One of the worst things about this time loop nonsense is that ‘m stuck organizing this dumb ass party for the RFA so they can raise their charity money over and over. This is the fourth loop and god fucking damnit I’m tired of emailing the same people the same things over and over again. I wrote down my responses and just send them that verbatim and they always show up every time. They have no idea, of course, but it is still getting really old, really fast. Honestly, this is one of the absolute worst parts of being a time traveler. I’m losing my damned mind, if I haven’t already. _

_ “Something kinda fun about all this mess is knowing 707. Yes, that’s his codename. To be fair, I told them my name was Six, so I can’t really say anything. Kid even gave me the nickname 606 so we’d match. Seven is a hacker, and I know he’s hiding shit. Shows all the signs of child abuse and trauma stemming from his adolescence. I was a profiler, okay? I know this shit. The poor guy is a lot like me, hiding his depression behind a sharp wit, something I do every day. I’m also fairly certain that he’s aware of the time loops. Poor fucker. _

_ “I’m just hoping I can get out of this soon. This is Courier Six, signing out.” _

The static went for much longer this time, then the track clicked to show the end. Okay, that was a strange one, but okay. Six had mentioned many a time that he had been in some odd scenarios. It was becoming a comfort hearing Six just talk about whatever was happening to him, so Genji turned on another random log. Hearing his voice was helping Genji cling onto the hope that he would wake up. Besides, he was learning more about what SIx had been up to. There wasn’t any harm in listening, right? He was starting to listen to these out of order, but he didn’t particularly care.

_ “Honestly, I have no fucking clue what the date is or what time it is. I’ve been in a building for three days and I’m not quite sure where it is or why I’m here. Last thing I remember was investigating the satellite that the Novac citizens kept beggin’ me to go to. There was some bright ass light as soon as I approached it, and somethin’ knocked me back, ‘n now I’m here with these weird ass scars on my body.” Six sounded pissed beyond belief. He groaned before continuing to speak.  _

_ “I can tell that the place is a science facility, but not much beyond that. There’s an AI that keeps bringing me snacks and telling me to find the doctors. Who in the fuck are the doctors? And what in the goddamn did they do to me?! I’ve got very clean cut scars ‘round my hairline ‘n down my spine ‘n over my heart, ‘n my head feels a hell of a lot lighter. I swear, if they stole my fuckin’ brain, I’m gonna start breakin’ shit. Six, signing off.” _

The log cut off there. To say that Genji was confused was the understatement of the century. Curious, he turned on the log recorded three hours after that one. 

_ “THEY STOLE MY FUCKIN’ BRAIN. THEY STOLE IT AND THERE’S FLOATING COMPUTERS WITH BRAIN HATS. THEY TRIED TO _ EAT ME _.” Six let out a scream of frustration before taking a few deep breaths and speaking.  _

_ “Some scientists who were trapped in this facility when the bombs fell transferred their brains into these floating computer machines so they could continue researching before the rads got to ‘em. As such, they lost their damned minds, and began lobotomizing anyone who stumbled into their facility. I have no fuckin’ clue how I’m still sentient, as they replaced my brain with essentially cotton fluff. And my heart. How the actual fuck am I still alive. Even for me, that’s seriously pushing things. Oh my god. _

_ “I did some favors for them, against my will, mind you, and before long, I found my brain. It didn’t want to come back. It kept arguing with me, saying it’d rather stay in it’s jar. Apparently, it’s  _ sooooo _ much easier to think when you don’t have to worry about having to piss all the time. That is a real thing my brain said while in a fucking jar. What is my life. _

_ “Eventually I convinced it come home with the mention of eating food, and I’ve destroyed all the computer things. They were nice enough to put my organs back in before I murdered them. Serves the fuckers right…” Six sighed. “Now I gotta find my way back to the Mojave and find out where my friends got to. Those assholes must be worried sick about me. Courier Six, signing off.” _

The log cut off. Genji was really starting to get concerned about Six’s past, though that was a pretty funny situation. He was also extremely confused on what Six meant when he mentioned “the bombs dropping.” Was there some kind of disaster he had gone through? Trying to find an answer, he skipped back about four logs or so.

_ “Uh, November something, year 2277. I think that’s what the terminal said, at least…  Hour unknown, but it’s morning. I think. Fuck, I don’t know! I honestly have no idea what’s going on. I woke up in this vault by myself in some weird cryo pod. Last I checked, it was 2077, and I was in D.C. on some missing person’s case. Husband suspected that his wife ran off to go practice witchcraft, and I was going to make sure she didn’t accidentally blast a hole into the Nevernever. Already dealt  with that enough, thanks to Dresden. _

_ “I found these weird blue jumpsuits with the number 112 on them. Not entirely sure what it means, but my stuff was torn to pieces and burnt when I woke up, so I guess I’m stuck with this thing for the moment. Void backpack and the Junimos are okay, so that’s good. Knew I should’ve packed a couple extra outfits in there... Well, I threw about seven of the jumpsuits in there, but that’s beside the point. Also found some decent quality boots. So that’s nice, I guess.  _

_ “There’s also these weird computer pods with people in ‘em kinda like the one I was in. However, through some tampering, I found out that they were stuck in some computer program. I had no idea how to get out of the vault, so in the meantime, I’m just hanging out in here, trying to figure out what in the hell happened to make me end up here. Six, signing out.” _

The next log began to play on its own, and Genji didn’t bother to stop it. 

_ “Well, turns out I’m actually in 2277. Fun. This girl came into the vault and began demanding to know where her dad is. In turn, I demanded to know where I was. This went back and forth for a while before we really got anywhere. Her name’s Eliza McDevitt, and she apparently is from one of these vaults. She has another one of these vault suits, but her number is 101. Cool.  _

_ “Her dad was stuck in one of the weird cryo pods, so she went in and got him out. While she did, I got to talk with the people she’s travelling with: a cheap John Travolta wannabe named Butch, and some poor fuck who got exposed to too many rads named Charon. I think he called himself a ghoul? Doesn’t look like any ghouls I’ve meet, but whatever. They’re nice enough, but Charon doesn’t really talk all that much. Butch, however, doesn’t  _ stop _ talking. Look, I get that you’re anxious about being out in the world for the first time, but I’m new here, too, and you don’t see me riding off my damned motormouth. _

_ Six sighed. “I honestly have no clue what’s going on here, but according to Eliza’s dad, we have to go fix this water purifier project he was working on a long time ago. Since I really have nothing else to do, I’ve decided to tag along and act as an extra arm. Liza’s a pretty one, with a sharp wit and even sharper eye. Apparently only ever owned a BB gun when she was a kid, but is a fantastic sniper. I also think she and Butch may have some unresolved sexual tension. It’s getting annoying. Charon agrees with me. _

_ “Right now, we’re camped in some settlement full of kids named Little Lamplight. The mayor, a twelve year old named Maccready, is cracking me the hell up. Keeps calling us ‘mungoes,’ whatever that means. Sassy little prick, but he’s entertaining, and he’s been tellin’ me a lot about the wasteland. Also got a fairly decent radio DJ to listen to, so that all’s nice. This is Six, signing off.” _

Genji sighed to himself before skipping ahead to logs recorded two hours ago. That was when he was missing… Did he make recordings while he waited for them to find him? Anxious to find out, Genji turned on the first of a series of logs made not too long ago. 

_ “June fifteenth, 2076. Hour unknown.” Six’s voice was hoarse and weak, and he coughed hard after speaking. There was a pause before he continued. “God, I think this might actually be some of the worst pain ‘ve ever been in… I’m covered in concrete rubble and my own blood, ‘n there’s a couple steel support wires stickin’ through m’ chest… I can’t feel my right arm or either one of ‘m legs… They were probably crushed under the weight of the concrete. _

_ “Should probably explain how I got here.  I was on a mission for Overwatch, supposed to find some information regarding Talon’s next move. I heard Hanzo in trouble, and I went down to help. Made the mistake of takin’ the stealth approach, and he let loose his dragons, not knowing it was straight at me. The damned things threw me against the concrete wall, ‘n now I’m trapped under here. Though, it’s been long enough that most of the pain has numbed over. Can’t really feel anything ‘cept my left arm and my head.” _

_ He paused again, and all that could be heard was his breathing for a few moments. _

_ “I’m makin’ these logs with the intention of someone listenin’ to them, in case this is my last hour. Probably someone in Overwatch’ll find ‘em when they find my corpse. Well, that’s assumin’ I die before they show up. Almost hope they do find me dead, so that they don’t have to hear my last breaths.” Six stopped, letting out a deep breath. “To be honest, I’m only makin’ this to keep myself alive. I’m scared if I stop talkin’, I’ll die.” _

_ His breathing hitched a bit. “Y’know, you’d think after so many years ‘f bein’ alive, I’d be ready to die. I’ve lived more lifetimes than any man should, seen great wonders ‘n tragedies, done what men only dream of… Yet, I’m scared outta my wits…” He bitterly laughed. “Suppose it’s fitting that ‘m gonna die alone. I deserve it, after all the tragedies and atrocities ‘ve committed. _

_ “Here, I’ll leave ‘m last confessions. Might as well. I have regrets, sure, but not as many as I’d’ve thought. I regret leaving Genji behind so soon after we had found each other. Poor fucker’s gone through enough heartbreaks in his life; he doesn’t need another one. Hanzo’s gonna be so damned torn about this when he finds out it was him. I remember how broken up he was about killin’ Genji; how’s he gonna take the news he killed me?” Six choked out a laugh.  _

_ “The radio’s keepin’ me going, and ‘m losing my voice, so I’m gonna cut this one short. If I survive long enough, might make another one of these. This is Courier Six, signing off.”  _

Genji could feel himself choking up, and a pit had formed in his stomach. His theory was right: Hanzo was the one who had attacked him. He didn’t mean to, of course. Hanzo would never willingly attack Six. He considered him one of his only true friends, and Genji knew that Six felt the same way. But it was Hanzo’s dragons that had nearly killed his love. Despite knowing the truth of the matter, he still felt rage boiling towards his brother. However, he swallowed his anger and pride and switched on the next log. 

_ “It’s been twenty minutes, and sitting here listening to the radio is starting to get boring. Plus, I’ve been thinking. It’s about the only thing I can do right now, considering that my dominant hand is as good as gone.” He coughed for a few seconds and cleared his throat before continuing.  _

_ “I’ve been thinkin’ back on my life, both the good parts and the bad. There’s been a whole lotta bad, but there’s been almost as much good. It balances out nicely. For every death I’ve caused, there are hundreds more lives I’ve saved. Hell, I saved the whole Milky Way galaxy from total extinction. No, I’m not exaggerating on that one. Though, you can really only save the world a handful of times before it becomes a chore. _

_ “I’ve also been thinking about some of the people I’ve left behind. I’ve met some incredible people in my days, each one sticking with me for years to come. Might as well talk about them and not about my impending death.” He laughed to himself, and it sounded painful with his hoarse and scratchy voice.  _

_ “One that sticks out is someone I met near the beginning of my travels. Well, more than one. My team in the FBI. I worked in Behavioral Analysis for about seven years, hunting the nation’s mentally unstable criminals. Saw some seriously fucked up things in those seven years, but damnit, my team made it worth it. Still remember all of their names by heart… I miss them. Made the hard shit easier to handle. _

_ “Also never gonna forget Fenris, a friend and lover from Thedas. He was an escaped slave who I helped shield from his former master. Guy was a broody prick, but damnit did he have a heart of gold. He said he’d do anything for me, and he wasn’t lying. Literally walked with me through hell and back. I stayed with him til the day he died, and I don’t regret a second of it.”  _

_ Six was silent for a moment before speaking again. “My crew on the Normandy… Most loyal sons of bitches I’ve ever seen. Only wish they could’ve stayed with me til the end. Most of ‘em died in the final battle against the Reapers. Mordin… didn’t even live that long. God, I remember seeing Cortez’s vessel get torn to shreds so fucking clearly… And Thane. He was taken from me too soon… He had so much more to live for, if it weren’t for his lungs failin’ him.” _

_ He choked back a sob, but it was still clearly heard. “Damnit… Might be seeing my crew sooner than anticipated. Hope they’ll forgive me for bein’ late…”  _

_ Cloth shuffling could be heard, and Six let out a deep breath. “This is Commander- shit,  _ Courier _ Six, signing off.”  _

At this point, Genji was starting to understand the weight on Six’s shoulders. Why he always looked so damn exhausted. It was because he had lost so many, including himself, over so many years. No one should have to go through all of that, especially not his love. He switched on the most recent audio log with a heavy hand. 

_ The static lasted longer than usual. Six was laying in silence after beginning the last log. The silence was a knowing one, a peaceful one, as Six took in heavy breaths.  _

_ “To whoever is listening…” He began after a while, before pausing again. Heistating. His voice was barely above a whisper, and even in audio, the life ebbing away from him was clear as day.  _

_ “To whoever is listening, my name is Courier Six. I’m a mercenary, sorcerer, time travel, commander, general, and plenty of other things. I’ve lived countless lives, been many different people, had many different faces. I’ve loved, lost, lied, and lived. I am not proud of who I am, nor will I ever be, as I give potentially my final words. Though, I have little regrets.  _

_ “Should I die, please, bury me and all of my belongings under an ash tree. Plant a garden at my grave, so that I may live on in peace. Bury the Pip Boy with me, and all of my secrets. Then, do yourself a favor, and forget about me. Forget about all I’ve done, forget my name, face, story, everything. Let Courier Six stay a ghost story among the sands of the desert. Someone who never existed. _

_ “And, to Genji, because I know you’ll find this thing… I love you. I’m sorry for leaving you so soon. Don’t be sad, baby. I’ll live on.” _

_ Six’s breathing became more forced, before he let out one last sigh. _

_ “This is Courier Six, signing off.” _

_ There was a small click, then static.  _

  
  
  
  


Genji’s cries could be heard throughout the entire base.


	6. Dragons

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> not all these chapters are long lmao

There was one thing that had slipped everyone’s minds after Six’s recovery: how Hanzo’s dragons were taking things.

The creatures loved Six as dearly as they did their master, especially after everything the Courier had done for them. He knew exactly how to handle them, how to give them the attention and love they needed, and what had they done? They had thought they had killed him. They were almost taking things worse than Hanzo, refusing to show themselves and drowning in their sorrows from within the Nevernever. 

It was about a week after he woke up that Six remembered the dragons, and it was while he was in the middle of taking a drink at lunch with the two Shimadas. He choked on his drink, nearly spitting it all over Hanzo and scaring the absolute shit out of the two brothers.

“My love, what’s wrong?!” Genji asked, panic clear in his voice.

“ _ Hanzo’s dragons _ .” He said, voice strained and eyes blown wide. 

“What about them?” Hanzo asked in confusion before realization came over his face. “Oh dear god.”

“They must feel horrible about what they did!” Genji gasped. 

“My poor noodles…” Six murmured, running his hands through his hair. “When we get back to base, Hanzo, summon them and let me talk to them. Get their spirits back up. ...pun intended.” 

Hanzo nodded wordlessly, trying to focus on finishing his food so they could leave quickly. God, he felt dumb forgetting about his dragons. He knew damned well how much the spirits loved Six, the things had cried for literal hours after Six left and never returned. It was like they had imprinted on him, which would make loads of sense, considering both Hanzo and Genji’s feelings as well as Six’s connection to the spirit world. 

Needless to say, the trio was in a mild panic the entire ride home, with Six bouncing his leg uncontrollably in anxiety. Genji resting his hand on Six’s knee didn’t help anything, and now he was shaking, too.  The second they reached Overwatch’s base, they darted into the building and into Hanzo’s quarters. The elder Shimada was swift to utter the ancient summoning phrase he was entrusted with. 

And nothing happened. 

“Uh… what?” Genji asked, baffled. “They didn’t come?”

“Maybe summon your’s, Green?” Six offered, folding his arms. 

Genji did, and soon there was a small green dragon wrapped around Genji’s arm that instantly ditched him for Six. As always. While the dragons were gigantic when summoned in combat, they typically chose to be about the size of a medium sized snake when not fighting. They also oddly behaved exactly like cats. And birds. Bird cats. Bats? Six frowned as he pat the dragon’s head, looking to Hanzo in confusion. 

“They’re ignoring you? They can  _ do _ that?” The courier mumbled. 

“Evidently so…” Hanzo muttered. 

“Here, try it again. I’ll amplify the summoning spell with my own magic, that might work.” Six offered, idly scratching behind Genji’s dragon’s whiskers and petting it as it moved its head around. 

The courier curled his fingers slightly and tightened the muscles in his hand, silently willing the flow of the spell into his hand. A small wisp of golden-white light willed itself into existence, entrancing the little dragon wrapped around his forearm. Six nudged its head away from the wisp as he held his hand up to Hanzo and nodded. The archer said the summoning incantation again, and with Six’s amplifier, the two spiritual dragons appeared before them. 

Honestly, they looked like kicked puppies, and it broke Six’s heart. Genji’s dragon made a small whimpering noise to its friends, though the two hung their heads in shame. Six sighed, handing Genji back his dragon before kneeling down in front of Hanzo’s. The spirits whined, trying to turn away from the mage. He smiled softly at them and offered his arms to them, palms up. They glanced over at him, wincing at his cybernetic arm knowing they caused that to be necessary. Six raised his brows, nodding at the small dragons. Tears were forming in the little things’ eyes as they looked to Six. 

“It’s alright, babies.” He cooed. “I forgive you.”

They let out loud whines before shooting forward and tightly curling themselves around Six’s torso. He chuckled deeply as the spirit dragons writhed around, trying to apologize as best they could by hugging and loving him. They rubbed their heads and faces over Six, whimpering as they did. Genji’s dragon let out a whine, jealous that Hanzo’s dragons were getting more attention, and once again ditched its master to join in on the hug fest. Genji sighed, why did his dragon like Six more than him? Granted, this was nothing new, but still. 

“Don’t worry, babies, I forgive you. You didn’t mean to hurt me.” Six said, rubbing their heads with both his real fingers and his cybernetic ones. One of the blue dragons’ head butted his cybernetic hand, licking it afterwards. The noises they were making was absolutely pathetic, with the exception of Genji’s. 

After about a minute, the two calmed down and rested on Six’s shoulder and wrapping their long tails around his neck. Genji’s was still firmly wrapped around his cybernetic forearm, picking at the plates and exposed wires. When he wasn’t looking, Genji snapped a quick picture of Six with their dragons. The spirit dragons usually never showed up in photos unless they were near Six, due to his magical connections. The younger of the brothers smiled behind his visor, so stupidly in love with this courier who just continued to amaze him.


	7. Vengeance

True to his word, Six had contacted Sombra as soon as he could and gave her what she so desired. A few pointers on Vegas underground organizations that could be potentially beneficial to Talon. Six wasn’t officially an Overwatch member, and as long as no one knew it was him giving info, there was no betrayal. Besides, Six had always been a man out for his own personal gain. He’d choose Genji over anything, of course, but for the chance to off Benny? Six would damn near do anything. Tipping off the enemy in exchange for his location was definitely worth it. 

Sombra, in exchange for keeping her name secret, did as Six asked and tracked down the kingpin a few months later. The bastard was good at hiding, even from her. Turns out the two had more in common than they had thought, and soon a genuine friendship had sparked between them. Sombra wasn’t too terribly excited about it at first, having never really had a true friend before. Especially not one on the other side of the fight. However, Six assured her that the Courier was on her side. Both were neutral parties, after all.

During those months of waiting, Genji had asked Six to officially join Overwatch, and Six nearly had a heart attack. He had told Genji he would consider it, and in a panic contacted Sombra to warn her of his next move. He’d have to create yet another identity, this one to show to the public. As such, he’d have to change up his appearance. Again.  _ Yay. _ Sombra had given him a bit of advice on making facial recognition more difficult, and he had followed them to the dot: asymmetrical hair, broken lines in the brows, and makeup.

After explaining his conditions to Genji, that he would need a different name to use in the public eye, that he would need to completely change his appearance and hide his scars in public, and that no one will know who he really is, Six joined Overwatch under the codename 606. Not very creative, but he was pressed for time, and this way, they could still call him Six. As such, he had used one of his cosmetic-esc spells to hide all scars but the bullet wound above his left brow- the one from Benny- and a small one near his jaw. He still looked like the same guy, face wise, but now he had bleached hair and had changed the spell on his eyes to make it look like they were brown. Angela had also been kind enough to order him a new pair of glasses. She was a real angel, that one. 

It had taken Genji a long time to get used to the fact that Six didn’t look blind. He had always known that his love could see perfectly well, but now it  _ looked _ that way. They still weren’t his real eye color, Six had said his eyes are naturally a dark blue, but it still just seemed wrong. However, it was still the love of his life, and as such, he still loved him more than words.

As per Sombra’s tip, Six had begun wearing makeup on a regular basis. However, it had been a very long time since he had used makeup, and boy howdy was it more difficult that ne remembered. Thankfully, Hana and Satya had been willing to help him out. The three had begun having little adventures in the bathrooms in the morning, searching up and trying out different makeup styles on Six. Genji loved it, and his personal favorite was a brown smokey eyed look. Six had even done it on Genji once so they would match. 

The day Six received word from Sombra that Benny had arrived at Tops Casino in Vegas, he suited up and headed out for the sandy wastes, Genji and McCree at his side. Both had been given disguises so that the public wouldn’t recognize them as Overwatch members, because what Six was planning to do would likely soil their reputation. 

God damnit, Six was going to kill Benny. And he didn’t care what Genji or Zenyatta said, he was going through with this.

Genji had really only come along to minimize the damage done, while McCree came to see Six kick ass. Both were a tad bit nervous at what Six was going to do when they got there, as he was well known for taking his sweet time with people who pissed him off. To ease the cyborg’s nerves, McCree had made a bet with him about whether or not Six would shoot Benny on sight. Genji was against, McCree was for, and they had thirty bucks down on this. 

To Six, Vegas was just as beautiful and disgusting as it had been the last time he came through it. The bright casino lights flashed in the darkness of the evening sky, neon lights washing over everyone dancing their way through the crowded streets. Six stood out like a sore thumb in his old Courier’s uniform, but the people of Vegas knew damned well to stay out of the way of someone in that helmet. Loud music blared out of each of the casinos, various bass lines rumbling through their bones and resonating in their chests. Six felt right at home. The anonymity that the streets gave him was a comfort, as were the blaring lights and screams of drunk patrons assaulting his senses. Genji and McCree were considerably less comfortable, grabbing onto Six’s worn duster so they didn’t lose him. 

As soon as Six saw the neon sign for Tops, he rounded the corner into the building’s large doors. He let out a happy sigh as he heard Dean Martin softly playing over the loud sounds of people gambling. His boots echoed on the slick tile floors as he went to go around the main desk. However, he was stopped by one of the casino’s guards.

“‘Fraid I’m gonna have to confiscate your weapons, sir.” The guard calmly stated, a smile plastered on his tired face. 

Six wordlessly pulled out an I.D. card and flashed it at the worker. His face immediately paled and he stepped to the side, stuttering out apologies. As Six walked past, Genji and McCree in tow, he could vaguely hear the comment the guard made to the front desk worker. 

“I thought Courier Six was dead!” 

He chuckled below his breath before scanning the crowd for Benny. The fucker’s face had been engraved into Six’s mind; he’d be able to find him. Luckily, it wasn’t too hard, as Benny was seated on an elevated platform, dealing cards for a game of Blackjack with that same ugly ass checkered suit. Six thought his blood had stained that. How many of those fucking suits did he have?

Without hesitation, he crossed the casino’s floor and approached Benny’s table. The small crowd around his table laughed at some remark he made, seemingly unaware of the Courier approaching them. As Six came into his view, Benny looked up at him, seemingly not recognizing the helmet. 

“Delivery for Benny Gecko.” Six said loud and clear over the sounds of the casino.

“Ah, my package here? Good. I’ll bring you to where I want it delivered. ‘Scuse me, ladies.” Benny said in his smooth voice as he stood from his seat and led Six and crew to one of the backrooms of the casino. He was smart enough, however, to bring two of his bodyguards with him. Looks like he had ditched the Great Khans, Six noted. 

As soon as the door was closed and while Benny’s back was turned, Six was swift to eliminate the two guards without a sound, stabbing them with one of his throwing knives and saying nothing as they crumpled to the ground. Benny poured himself a glass of whiskey, and spoke over his shoulder as he did. 

“Kinda disappointed in how long you took, baby. Thought you Couriers were s’pposed to be faster than lightening.”

Six had removed his helmet and wordlessly handed it to McCree, crossing his arms and waiting for Benny. He did not speak, instead pulling out and lighting a cigarette. Benny chuckled. 

“The quiet type, I see. ‘S all good, baby. I’ll make you scream my name by the time I’m done with ya.” 

Genji felt a pang of rage at Benny’s statement. He didn’t realize who he was speaking to, did he? Even hearing his gross words, Genji felt a pit in his stomach. This man was giving him strange vibes, even without the knowledge of what he had done to his love. However, a small feeling of satisfaction caused him to give a miniscule smile when Benny turned around, whiskey in hand, and looked at Six. The kingpin’s eyes widened, his brows raised, and he nearly dropped his drink. 

“What in the goddamn…?” He breathed, taking in the sight of Six. “You’re that Courier I offed fifteen years ago… I thought I’d killed you.”

Six smiled. “‘Fraid I don’t go down with just one bullet, Gecko.”

An apprehensive laugh escaped from Benny’s lips. “L-look, we can cut some kind of deal, okay? I know ya probably want me dead, baby, but I can get you anything you want.”

Humoring himself, SIx raised his brow. “Oh? Anything I want, in exchange for your miserable life?”

“Of course! Want free membership in Tops for life? You’ve got it! Protection from my men? My knowledge and resources? All yours!” His tone was getting more desperate by the second. 

Six hummed and pursed his lips, bringing a gloved finger to his lips. “You sound like you have quite the bargain there. What ever shall I do?”

He could see Benny reaching for something in his coat jacket, and spoke again before he could draw it. 

“How about that gun in your hands, to start?” 

Benny faltered and swallowed hard before pulling out the loaded gun and setting it on the floor, kicking it to Six. He stopped it with his foot, plucking it from the ground. Upon examination, it was a 9mm with a depiction of the virgin Mary on the sides of the handle. He recognized this as the very gun used to shoot him down all those years ago. A smile formed itself on his lips. 

“A-anything else, baby?” Benny asked tentatively. 

“Hmm… There is one more thing.” Six pondered, tilting the gun. 

“Of course, whatever it is, it’s yours!” 

“How about the Platinum Chip?”

There was silence in the suite. McCree knew what the Chip was, but Genji wasn’t, He looked to McCree for any kind of help, but there was just a shocked expression on the cowboy’s face. Benny completely froze, face paling. 

“Uh…” He stuttered. “D-don’t know what you mean, baby. I don’t have the Chip…”

“Oh, don’t give me that.” Six snapped, aiming the gun at Benny. “I know you have it on you, and I know that’s why you shot me in the first place. Now  _ give it _ .” His mocking demeanor was gone, and now what Genji dubbed “Scary Six” had come out to play.

Benny hesitated, contemplating his options. “You know what all you’d have if you had the Chip, don’t you?”

“Of course I do. Why do you think I want it?” Six spat, cocking the gun. “Now give it before I pluck it off your bleeding corpse.”

“Y-ya promise  I can leave here alive if I do?” 

“I do. **Give** .”

Benny scrambled to pull out a poker chip from his suit jacket. It only served to confuse Genji further. It was just a silver poker chip with a small engraving in the center of it. Nothing really that important, so why did Six want it so badly? Hell, why was Benny desperate enough to shoot Six to get it?

Benny tossed the Chip in the air, and Six caught it effortlessly. He gazed at it as he turned it around in his gloved fingers, watching as it glittered in the light of the suite. It was just as beautiful as he had imagined: the power over all of Vegas, the key to controlling the bots that secured the grounds, the answer to the faction conflict, glittering in his fingers. 

The kingpin took a swig of his whiskey before speaking again. 

“Alright, I held up my end of the bargain. Now can I go?” His voice was still desperate as he clung onto any chance he had at life. Six hummed. 

“Mmm, sorry. Changed my mind.” He raised the gun he had mentally deemed Maria and aimed it at Benny’s head. 

“B-but the deal-!” He cried out, clinging to the bar’s edge. 

“Sorry, baby,” Six said, a sickening grin on his face as he repeated what had been said to him so long ago. “But the game was rigged from the start. Bye bye, Benny.”

Benny made one last cry for help, clinging to the bar. Six didn’t hesitate to pull the trigger, watching with extreme satisfaction as his body crumpled to the floor. His blood stained the god awful suit of his as it dripped down from the wound above his left brow. Payback’s a bitch, ain’t it? The blood from the wound had splattered onto the checkered tiles of the suite, as well as the bar’s polished maple wood. He almost felt bad for ruining such a pretty piece of furniture. 

“...you owe me thirty bucks.” Genji muttered. 

“God damnit.” McCree cursed as he pulled out his wallet and handed Genji the promised thirty. 


	8. Butterfly

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i did promise fluff and here we are

One night, while wrapped up in countless blankets hogging one corner of the couch, Six and Genji decided to look through some of the pictures Six had taken before their respective accidents. Genji’s mask was cast off to the side as he instead opted for being able to press small kisses to Six’s neck as he scrolled through the camera roll from all those years ago. He felt at peace, snuggled up with the one he loves and strolling down memory lane. Six laughed softly as he came across the picture of him and Genji at the butterfly garden that had been his lock screen for so long. 

“Green, look.” He said, pointing to the cluster of butterflies on the younger Genji’s shoulder. “You didn’t even notice those were there the whole time.” 

“I was more focused on you, my love.” He mumbled, a smile tugging at his face. Six laughed and gently pushed Genji’s face away from his neck, turning to face him. Genji pouted before his smile took over again and he laughed. 

“Flattery will get you everywhere, you know.” Six stated as he shuffled to turn around while staying in Genji’s arms. He wrapped one arm around Genji’s shoulders and cupped his cheek with his cybernetic hand, drawing him in for a short kiss. 

Every kiss with Genji always felt like it would be their last, as Genji made sure that if it was, it would be one worth remembering. He had spent fifteen years regretting not kissing Six goodbye on his last trip to Hanamura; he wasn’t planning on doing that again. As such, every one of Genji’s kisses was passionate and full of love; even small pecks before a mission or when going to bed all held such a pure feeling love. One of his hands trailed up Six’s back to gently hold the back of his head, drawing him in closer. The two parted after a moment, breathless and closed lidded. Their lips barely hovering over the other’s. Six grinned and let out a breathy laugh, pressing another quick kiss to Genji’s lips before pulling back and opening his eyes. 

“Never gonna get tired of having that back.” He whispered, rubbing his thumb over Genji’s scarred cheek. “I love you.”

“I love you too, Cecil.” Genji said, just above his breath. “More than you could ever know.” 

Six hummed. “You know, that picture reminds me a’ something. I think Zenyatta mentioned that there was a butterfly sanctuary a few miles out from here, in the city. Think we should go?”

“That sounds wonderful. Maybe we should take Sensei along with us?”

“Sure thing.” Six grinned before snuggling back into Genji’s chest. “He’ll be happy to get t’ spend time with both of us.”

Genji hummed in agreement, giving Six a gentle squeeze before drawing the blankets back up over the two of them. Six shut his eyes in bliss as Genji began rubbing small circles on his shoulder blade. Looks like they won’t be getting up anytime soon, so might as well get a nap in. 

 

\----------------------------------------

 

There truly are few greater joys in life than seeing an excited Zenyatta. Despite not being able to make the elaborate facial expressions, his face had lit up upon entering the peaceful sanctuary, and he had gently gasped. Of course he had held butterflies in his life, but to see this many at once? In such a lush, beautiful garden? 

Six chuckled as he watched Zenyatta’s delight, lacing his fingers through Genji’s as they led their omnic friend through the quiet sanctuary. The garden was jam packed with a variety of plants for the butterflies to enjoy, the bright colors of their petals adding life to the greenhouse. Clusters of the insects were aloft in the air, while others chose to rest on the leaves and petals of the garden’s plant life. 

A small Monarch butterfly made its way to where Zenyatta was floating and landed on the middle of his face. Zenyatta’s shoulders raised slightly in surprise and he let out a small laugh. Six was quick to pull out his phone and snap a picture of Zenyatta with the butterfly’s wings on his metal face. Soon after, more of the butterfly’s friends decided that Zenyatta was a suitable perch, and various butterflies of various colors were landing all over the omnic. He and Genji laughed in delight, while Six kept snapping pictures. 

“Oh my god, this is the cutest thing…” Six mumbled, laughing over his words.

Eventually, one of the insects flew off of Zenyatta and landed on Genji’s face. He tried to keep still as the small creature investigated him. Six, on the other hand, burst out laughing and took a picture of his friends, each with the beautiful insects crawling all over them. Eventually, he noticed a blue butterfly crawling into his line of sight from his shoulder. The small thing crawled off of his shirt collar and onto the soft skin of his neck, and he did his best to not burst out laughing at the tickling sensation where the thing’s legs crawled. He flipped to the front camera and took a picture of himself with the adorable thing on his lower jaw. 

As slowly as he could, he walked over to Genji and Zenyatta and took a picture of the three of them with butterflies covering them. Looks like these little guys were particularly friendly, even more so than the ones that they met last time they came to one of these. A bright grin spread on Genji’s face, and Zenyatta held up a peace sign. Well, it seemed like Six had a new lock screen picture. 


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> good fucking luck figuring out what this is from lmao
> 
> if someone figures it out then u have my respect

Despite the serenity of the night sky above him and the warm feeling of Six in his arms, Genji felt a sense of turmoil. Many months ago, when Six had had his accident and lost his limbs, Genji had listened to some of Six’s audio logs. Ever since then, he had been dwelling on the fact that Six was immortal. 

He had known about Six being a magic wielder for many years, he had told him right away, but to know that he uses his magic to keep himself alive and travel through time? It was starting to wear at him. Many a night he had spent dwelling on the fact that Six had lived countless years wandering, and he had chosen to stay with him of all people. Compared to Six, Genji was just a regular human being with some cybernetic parts. He was nothing compared to the people Six had described in his logs, great heroes and warriors and lovers aplenty. He was no hero, he was just someone who was caught up in some awful circumstances. He had begun to doubt himself, and in turn, their relationship, and it was beginning to eat him alive. 

As much as he loved Six, and he really did, he was paling in comparison to everyone else Six had left behind. What if he got bored with Genji and abandoned him? Although he knew how low the likelihood of that was, it still panicked him. As he laid next to Six on the clean cut grass of the hill outside the Overwatch base, looking up at the stars, his face subconsciously pulled into an insecure frown. Something that didn’t go unnoticed by Six, who had interrupted his thought on one of the constellations to turn to Genji. 

“What’s wrong, Green?” He asked, voice soft as he propped himself up on his elbow. 

Genji hesitated. “It’s nothing, my love.”

“It’s something if it’s bugging you this much. Talk to me, baby.” 

Genji sat up, and Six with him.

“There’s something I’ve been meaning to talk about…” He muttered, not looking Six in the eye. 

“This better not be a breakup speech.” Six’s tone was dry, causing Genji to chuckle. 

“No, it’s not.”

“Not a marriage proposal, either?”

“No. This is something else.”

“Then I’m all ears.” Six looked at him and waited for him to continue. 

Genji paused, wondering whether he should actually go through with talking about this. He knew that Six would hear him out, but he was almost scared of what he would say. What if Genji’s anxieties were right and Six would just leave him? He wasn’t certain if he could take that heartbreak. He took in a deep breath before speaking. 

“I want to talk about your audio logs…” He said, anxious voice barely above a whisper.

“Ah.” Six pursed his lips and took in a breath. He could feel his chest tighten; god, he was hoping he wouldn’t have to have this conversation. “What about them?”

“I have questions about some of the things you said in them…” Genji paused. “The ones about your abilities.” 

“Your talking about my immortality, aren’t you?” 

Shit. Genji forgot how perceptive he was. He nodded, eyes cast down to the grass. Six chuckled and tilted Genji’s chin to make him look at him. 

“Love, you don’t have to be afraid to ask me anything. You know I’ll answer if you ask.” He pressed a kiss to Genji’s cheek, causing him to breath out through his nose. 

“I know.” He smiled for a brief second before speaking again. “...do you know exactly how old you are?”

Six hummed. “No, I’m afraid. At least older than 300, but I stopped keeping track a long time ago.”

“Really?” 

“What were you expecting, baby?” SIx chuckled. 

“I’m not sure, really. Alright, next question. Why do you keep yourself alive for so long? Wouldn’t immortality get boring after awhile?”

“It’s not my choice, baby. Just how I ended up. A combination of my healing factor and magic’s keepin’ me alive.” 

“Healing factor?” Genji hadn’t heard of this. Or, if he had, he certainly didn’t remember it. 

“Rapid cell regeneration. Genetic mutation I was born with. If I get hurt, my body repairs itself at at least one hundred times the rate of normal humans.”

“Then why did your limbs have to be amputated?”

Six hummed again. “Really, they didn’t. Angela didn’t know about the healing factor. When I get a wound I’ve never gotten before, such as crushed limbs, it takes my body longer to heal. It can’t do something it’s never done before perfectly in an instant. Just like people.”  

“That makes sense…” Genji mused before asking another question. “You have met many great people in your days… why join Overwatch instead of being with them?”

“Well, there’s multiple reasons for that. One, most of the ‘great people’ I’ve met are either dead or otherwise busy. Two, Overwatch is a noble cause, and I tend to get drawn to those. Three, there’s some pretty ‘great people’ here, too.” Six declared. 

“In your logs, you’ve described kings and noble warriors. Wastelands you call home, roaring seas and dragon battles. Why waste your time here with me-” Genji cut himself off there, not intending to actually say that part. Shock settled in on his face and he gasped. 

Oh, shit.

Six’s eyes widened and his mouth parted, a hurt expression on his face. He pulled his hand away, it hovering over his chest as the offense he felt set in. Genji thought he was wasting his time here? What the fuck?

“Excuse me?” He asked, raising his brows. His voice was quiet and hardened, tension crackling in the air. “Wasting my time with you?” 

“I-what I mean was-” Genji stuttered, trying to defend himself. 

“No, I got what you meant.” Six cut him off, raising a hand. “I got it loud and clear. You think I’m wasting my time being with you?”

“I…” Genji swallowed hard, turning his gaze away from Six. “I just can’t believe that someone as great as you would want to be with a broken man like me…” 

Six sighed.

“Genji, look at me.” He said, voice softened. Genji hesitated before meeting Six’s spell covered eyes. “I know what I’m doing, baby. I made an active choice to stay here after you died, after my accident. I stayed because I love you.” He shuffled to get closer to Genji. “I’m a person driven by my emotions, and my emotions are saying to stay here, with you.”

At this point, tears had begun to fall on Genji’s end, to which Six placed his hands on Genji’s cheeks and wiped them away. His warm brown eyes held so much hurt, so much raw emotion that Six nearly shuddered. Tentatively, Genji reached for Six’s waist and rested a hand on his soft curve. 

“And I can prove that what I’m saying is true, Genji.” Six said, a serious look on his face. 

“What…?” Genji breathed, furrowing his brows in confusion before realization overtook his features. “You mean the soul gaze, don’t you…?”

Six nodded solemnly. “You know what all it would entail, yes? Every thought, memory, emotion, everything about ourselves, revealed to each other. The most intimate thing I can offer you. And trust me, you never forget what the soul gaze shows you: what you see when you look into my soul will be with you for the rest of your life.” 

Genji looked away from Six’s eyes, contemplating. Of course he wanted this, he needed to prove his insecurities wrong, but what would Six see? Everything he had ever done… That included him sleeping around before they met, the nights he drank himself into a stupor because he believed Six was dead, the fight between him and Hanzo, how awful he was to Zenyatta when they had met. Everything he had ever felt, the turmoil he was in when he figured out how deeply he was in love with Six, the rage he felt towards the world, the depression he felt when he was left on his own. Everything would be there in front of Six. 

He was also somewhat terrified of what he would see from Six. He had said before that he had been through many a tragedy, and that he had had many a lover before. Would Genji really be able to handle all of it? And to have it for the rest of his life… 

“I want to do it.” He proclaimed after a long moment of silence. A soft smile appeared on Six’s lips as he sighed. 

“Good… Then I can prove myself.” He pressed a short kiss to Genji’s lips, still holding his face in his hands. “In advance… I’m sorry.”

He pulled back his real hand and slowly dragged it above his closed eyes. A light blue light shone from his fingertips, and after a brief moment, the light faded and Six opened his eyes, letting out a deep breath as he did. 

“I’m so sorry…”

That’s when Genji felt his stomach lurch as a myriad of images suddenly flooded into his head all at once. 

The first thing he saw was fire. The fire of Six’s soul, burning all around him. It scorched his mind, but there was no pain, only warmth. He felt Six’s rage, his passion, his love, his hatred, all of his emotions in their rawest and purest possible form. Visions of raging battles and political strife flashed before his eyes, and he could feel every single thing that Six felt in those moments. Moments of triumph and moments of loss, equally as symbolic, lingered all around. Calmer scenes of domestic life eased the harsh blows of the harder images, yet those were only brief. He saw Six’s train of thought, his morals, his strict code of honor. Never take the life of someone who hasn’t somehow wronged you, always show civility even to foes, do  _ whatever it takes _ to survive. He saw Six starving in the sandy wastes as he clutched to anything he could to survive, laughing at large formal events with nameless faces, dancing along the edges of rooftops as he ran through the night, fighting for his life at every possible turn. 

Genji saw Six’s fears: abandonment, dying alone, not being able to save everyone. One which he had seen come to light too many times, and one he could never forgive himself for. He felt Six’s burden in keeping so many dark secrets, keeping this vast knowledge of the universe to himself. The weight bearing down on his shoulders, all a life he didn’t want in the first place. All of his principles, his trades, his preferences, his regrets all at Genji’s fingertips. He now understood Six in a way no one else could without the soul gaze. He could understand why Six lied, why he constantly moved, why he fled when he began to feel too at home. Six couldn’t risk innocents getting hurt because of him. Most couldn’t handle the truth about him, even when it was presented in front of them. 

He could feel the dread clawing at his chest at every loss Six had faced, and there were plenty of them. Friends, colleagues, family, lovers, soldiers, civilians. He saw the life drain out of their faces as Six held them in his arms, begging them not to leave him behind. He saw his crew getting slaughtered at the Reapers’ hands, his friend’s ship getting shot down, Six’s final goodbyes as he ran in to sacrifice himself for the umpteenth time. Every near death experience, Genji felt. Every beat of his racing heart, he heard. He was living Six’s life through these visions, and it had been a long and difficult one. 

There was one thing that stood out to him more than the rest, the thing he had been searching for with this soul gaze: Six’s love. A love that was so pure and raw, one that not even death could rip from him. A love so genuine and strong, and it was one shared with many. Genji was an object of Six’s love, but so were many others. Others who had come before him, who had devoted themselves to Six, and he had devoted himself to in turn. Everything he felt for these people was strong and genuine and equal. He didn’t favor certain lovers over others; he saw them each for what they were, and gave them all the love he could. 

And at the center of it all was Genji. The current object of Six’s affection. That didn’t make it sound as good as it really felt. Six was true in his feelings; he wasn’t bored of Genji because he wasn’t as “exciting” as some of the others he had been with. He had stayed with him and not left him behind because he _ wanted _ to. He loved Genji for that exact reason: he had never met anyone like him. Anyone as sweet, as kind, as mischievous, as amazing as Genji Shimada. Genji took a sense of pride in that, in the fact his lover truly did feel the same. 

Six, on the other hand, was experiencing something completely different. He had seen everything Genji was nervous about him seeing and much, much more. Living through the moments when Genji was bleeding out on the floor of Shimada castle, raggedly breathing, desperately clinging onto the hope that one day he would see Six again. He had lost consciousness to the thought that if he died, then he could at least be by Six’s side again. His heart nearly broke when he saw that thoughts of himself were the only things keeping him going before Overwatch’s fall. 

When the two snapped back to reality after what seemed like forever, all Genji could do was stare at the resilient blue of Six’s eyes. He was seeing his real eyes, not a glassy or unreal look; these were Six’s  _ eyes _ . Something he had never seen. And with the soul gaze, he also now knew Six’s full name: something he had always warned that Genji should never know, for his own personal safety. Six had given him everything he possibly could, and in turn, Genji had given him the same. He now knew that this was something he didn’t tend to like doing, even with romantic partners. Most never knew about the soul gaze’s existence for that exact reason.

“Holy shit…” Genji breathed, feeling light headed. 

“You doing okay, Gen-” Six began before he felt a pair of lips crash against his. The force of the action knocked him back onto the grassy hill, and he felt Genji on top of him. He tried to pour as much love into the embrace as he could, ignoring the tears falling from both of their eyes. After a moment, they separated, each breathing hard. 

“Cecil Cedric Sebastian Murdock…” Genji breathed, a grin on his face. “A beautiful name…” 

“Now do you know how I feel?” Six said, panting with a small smile gracing his lips. 

“I love you.”

“I love you, too. Now come here, baby.” He said before Genji leaned back in.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Some time later, they were broken apart by McCree’s wolf whistling and Lena’s laughter as Jack called them back inside. The two came in without a word, flushes clear on both of their faces.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> here come's the smut, do do do dooo
> 
> warning for sexual content in this chapter

Sex with Genji had become something of a complicated matter, as the Japanese man had never really bothered to figure out that part of his new body. Needless to say, asking Angela about what she had done had been an awkward conversation. As it had turned out, Genji had lost his genitals after the fight with Hanzo. He really didn’t want to know how. Angela had prepared him with “both” genitalia, and they were detachable. Six was delighted to learn that even if they aren’t currently attached to him, Genji could still very well feel any stimulus done to them. Six would definitely have fun with that fact later on. 

After talking with Angela and figuring out exactly how the robotic parts worked, Genji had been extremely embarrassed whenever it came to inciting an intimate moment. Any time a kissing session got more intense, he would find some excuse to not go any further. He wasn’t sure how Six would feel about being that intimate with someone who doesn’t even have real “equipment.” It was something that he realized was ridiculous, as he knew well that he had been intimate with literal aliens, but it was still another insecurity. 

One such session was currently in progress, with Six straddling Genji in Six’s room on his desk chair. His hands were wrapped around Genji’s neck as his partner ran his hands over Six’s back and hips. However, his hands never wandered further, not wanting to overstep any boundaries. His touches were soft, a contrast to Six’s quick and desperate ones. As Six trailed his hands down Genji’s waist, he stopped him with his hand, grabbing Six’s wrist. Six sighed. 

“Genji, what is it?” He asked, pulling back and looking Genji in the eye. “Every time we start to get a bit more intimate, you pull away. What’s going on, baby?”

Genji hesitated. “If we were to do… that, it wouldn’t be the same as it was before. I don’t even really know how that part of my body works.”

“Well, duh, it’s not going to be the same.” Six laughed, pressing a short kiss to Genji’s lips. “I don’t care if we have to figure things out again. I’m not after the physical feeling; I want to be with  _ you _ . The body doesn’t matter.”

“You always know what to say, don’t you?” Genji chuckled. “Are you certain you want to do this? I’m not entirely human anymore.”

“Neither am I, in case you forgot.” Six flicked the tip of Genji’s nose. 

“I suppose you’re right.” Genji murmured, leaning into Six’s neck and pressing soft kisses on the sensitive skin. Six let out a breathy sigh as Genji got back to work, and he gently ran his fingers along the edges of the metal platelets on Genji’s side and stomach. According to Angela, those regions were particularly sensitive to touch, and based on Genji’s shudder and muffled moan, it seemed she was right. 

In response, Genji groaned and pulled Six forward, biting down on Six’s neck. Six moaned, a laugh peppered in as he realized that he had finally gotten Genji where he wanted him. He grinded up against Genji’s lap, trying to get some friction going between his legs. While Genji’s parts weren’t “real,” Six’s were, and they were very needy at the moment. Hell, they had been for a hell of a long time, and he couldn’t really get himself off like he could with Genji. Needless to say, he was really hoping this would go the way he wanted it to.  

He could feel Genji tugging at the hem of his loose tee shirt, and in a flash, it was tossed aside, as was Genji’s. There wasn’t really and need for him to wear clothing, but he still did for the sake of style. His cybernetic hands roamed Six’s now exposed skin, tracing over scars with loving care. Goosebumps covered Six as Genji’s hands wandered him, the colder air of the room hitting his skin. Genji began trailing down Six’s chest, covering him in small bruises and red marks that contrasted greatly against his lighter skin. A breathy sigh left Six’s lips as he tilted Genji’s chin up and brought him back in for another kiss. Genji’s hands moved past Six’s hips and pulled him forward, sticking his thumbs under the elastic bands of his unbuttoned jeans and boxers and tugging. 

Now, there was in fact something about Six that he really did not like to talk about, even when asked: the fact that he’s transgender and never bothered to fully transition. In his long lifetime, he had only ever really had social dysphoria, taking issue with people using female pronouns and his more feminine appearance. As such, he had transitioned to the point that he passed without having to bind and didn’t bother to take it any further. The point being, he still had feminine genitalia. Not that Genji minded. Six’s cosmetic spells could really only go so far, so he couldn’t exactly change his genitalia on a whim, as convenient as that would be. Well, in theory he  _ could _ , he just had no clue how.

As Six got up to take off his jeans and expose his cybernetic legs, Genji watched intently as he removed his own. To him, Six’s body was just as beautiful now as it had been before his accident and before the two had parted. His scars gave him character, his tattoos giving color and life to his slender form, his freckles dotting along, forming constellations across his skin. Absolutely beautiful in his eyes. 

The Courier strode back to Genji, pressing a kiss to his jaw before kneeling down and spreading Genji’s legs. A dark flush settled on Genji’s scarred face as he ran a hand through Six’s bleached hair. 

“Six, are you sure…?” He asked, hesitation clear in his tone. 

The Courier chuckled. “Yes, baby, I’m sure. You’ve never been properly eaten out before. Someone’s gotta treat you.”

“But you aren’t getting anything out of this. I want you to feel good as well.” 

“Don’t worry, you’ll have your turn. Besides, it’s been forever since you’ve felt something like this. Let me spoil you a bit.” A cheeky smile twisted Six’s lips as he pressed a soft kiss to Genji’s inner thigh. A sigh passed through Genji’s nose as he leaned back, looking at Six in defeat. 

“Fine. But I can guarantee you that I’ll pay you back in full.” 

“I’ll hold you to that, you know.” Six chuckled as he searched around for the small hidden switch Angela had told him about. Upon flipping it, a panel between his legs shifted and Genji’s cybernetic vagina was fully exposed. Turns out this one worked exactly like a real one, and this one was also very turned on. Six almost had to wonder why Angela bothered to put so much attention to detail in something like this, but in the moment, he didn’t really have any complaints. At least he still knew what to do. 

After moving soft kisses and nips down Genji’s thighs, he put his mouth to work on his clit, causing a moan to involuntarily escape Genji’s throat. Oh yeah,  _ just _ like a real one. Six could only taste silicon and lubricant, as that’s what the prosthetic was made of, but Genji’s jerky and genuine reactions made the awkward taste completely worth it. He ran his tongue over the sensitive nub in small shapes, working it as much as he could before moving his mouth down to his entrance. Genji was like melted puddy in his arms, with small, whimpering moans and labored breaths. His grip on Six’s hair tightened as he pushed his tongue inside, the wet warmth sending waves of pleasure over him. 

Six gently ran his fingers over Genji’s inner thigh before having them take over for his tongue, his mouth moving back up to his clit. He inserted one finger, then two, moving slow and in a steady rhythm. He could hear Genji begin to mumble, switching between English and Japanese mid sentence. His voice was heavy and his breathing was labored as he shuddered in ecstasy. 

“Agh, fuck…” He breathed. “You’re,  _ ah,  _ really good at this…” 

Six began curling and uncurling the fingers inside Genji, pressing a kiss to his clit before looking up at him. The sight of Genji in such a state of pleasure was a sight he could never get out of his mind: disheveled hair, a dark flush dusting his cheeks, eyes full of love and lust Six knew damned well was directed at him. Truly a sight to behold.

“I’m just showing you how I like it done, baby.” He said simply before going back to work, lapping his tongue over Genji’s clit. 

“Gh, so you’re saying I should be taking notes?” Genji quipped, taking in a shaky breath.

Six laughed against him, sending soft vibrations into his sensitive clit. A low groan left Genji’s throat, heat building below his stomach. God, was he this close to cumming already? He could swear that he used to last longer than this… 

Well, all hope of lasting any longer ended when Six began to move his fingers in and out rapidly, scraping against his inner walls. He unintentionally clenched up around Six, a sharp gasp escaping him. He was beginning to hit his limit, completely overwhelmed by all of the ecstasy coursing through him as well as the sight of Six on his knees between his legs. A long, deep moan left him as his back arched and his breathing quickened. 

“Fuck,  _ Six! _ ” He called out as his climax overtook him. 

As Six was expecting, when he came, he came more of the lubricant. So now his mouth tasted even weirder. Fun. However, a smile graced his messy lips as he looked back up at Genji as he panted in the desk chair. 

“How you hangin’ in there, baby?” He asked, voice soft and sweet. 

Genji let out a weak chuckle. “I understand why you like that so much.”

“I know, right?” Six laughed. “C’mon, let’s get you cleaned up then lie down for a while.”

Genji could only nod, overcome with a pure sense of love for his broken Courier.


	11. Questions and Answers

Despite the fact that Six had been a part of Overwatch for about a year now, most of its members hardly knew a thing about him. The Courier kept to himself, and though he was friendly enough when engaged, most of the members were too intimidated by him to actually say something. The scars littering his face only worsened his case of resting bitch face. As such, very few of Overwatch’s active members knew how friendly and sociable he really was. 

Six, of course, had noticed, and had tried to make himself look more approachable. Smiling more, trying to initiate conversations despite him surprisingly being a huge introvert, wearing brighter colors, yet he felt it only made him look awkward. He had brought it up with both Hanzo and Genji, but neither one’s attempts really worked. 

After finally getting fed up with this, Six had arranged a small sit in with a chunk of his team in the base’s lounge room. Thankfully, most everyone was free, and they decided to come by. Any chance to learn about the mysterious Courier Six, after all. 

Jesse was the first to arrive, and Six had to admit, it was strange seeing him in anything other than his serape. He still donned that ridiculous hat of his, but he wore a red flannel shirt and a pair of worn jeans that complimented his slightly chubby figure. He had quickly taken to munching on the various bowls of snacks that Angela had helped Six set up. Angela was there as well, and had been for the better part of the afternoon. She and Genji had been absorbed into whatever they were talking about in the corner of the room, laughing like the old friends they were. 

Satya was the next to arrive, hesitancy clear on her features. She was new as well, and despite her having talked to Six before, she still seemed like she couldn’t trust him. He could understand, after all she went through to get from Vishkar to Overwatch. He knew she still thought everyone hated her because of what she had done and who she was. However, Six wanted to prove her wrong and invite her into the group’s circle, even if he himself could never be part of it. Not really, at least. But that was a subject for another day. 

Hana and Lucio came bouncing in with Lena at their side, talking and laughing about some highlight moment from one of Hana’s livestreams. Lena held a half empty plastic cup of bubble tea, something she was known for constantly carrying around. The trio looked good in casual clothes, even though that’s what they often wore around base. 

After a while, more people trickled into the room. Zenyatta, Ana, and Mei all made their way into the room and took their seats, idly chatting until Six hesitantly rose and caught everyone’s attention. 

“Hi everyone. Thank you for coming.” Six began. “I’ve called you here because I’ve noticed that most of you seem uncomfortable around me. You don’t seem to know much about me, so I figured we could do a question-and-answer sort of thing. Feel free to ask anything; I’m not shy.” He sat down as soon as he had finished, taking a seat next to Genji. 

“Ooo, I’ve got one!” Lena announced from her cross legged position on the floor, waving her hand in the air. “How’d you an’ Genji meet?”

Six chuckled. “It’s really not that exciting of a story. I was in Hanamura on a delivery for the Couriers and I finished early. My flight wasn’t for two more days, so I hung out in the arcade and Genji came up and started playing against me, and we hooked up.”

“So he really was a playboy in his youth?” Angela teased, laughing as she did. Genji chuckled. 

“Yes, but it at least got me somewhere.” He said, lacing his fingers through Six’s.

“I have one. Where are you from?” Satya asked, crossing her legs. 

“Actually, I don’t know that one. Can’t really remember. I’ve lived most of my life on the move.” Six said, shrugging his shoulders. “Sorry.”

“Wait, I thought you were from Las Vegas?” Jesse asked, furrowing his brows. “That’s what you said when we first met, after all.”

Six shrugged. “That was years ago, Jesse. Vegas feels like home, so it’s what I typically answer. Keeps common people from askin’ too many questions.”

“You and McCree knew each other?” Angela questioned, tilting her head. 

Jesse chuckled. “Yeah, we met back when I was in Deadlock. He punched me in the face.”

The group laughed at Jesse’s expense, causing the cowboy to huff and cross his arms. 

“To be fair, you tried to shoot at me. Then you tried to hook up with me after I hit you.” Six deadpanned, causing the group to laugh harder. Particularly the younger agents. 

“Look, I was a teenager!” Jesse defended, a flush dusting his scruffy cheeks. “‘Sides, you were cute back then.”

“Am I not cute now?” Six tried to tease, but ended up laughing over his words. 

“No, you’re just taken.” He quipped, trying to recover himself. 

“So are you, cowboy.” Hanzo said bluntly, glaring with a miniscule smile on his lips.

“Like I could ever forget that, sugarplum.” Jesse winked, causing Hanzo to flush and cross his arms. Genji faked a gag. 

“Get a room, you two. This is disgusting to look at!” He said, wrapping an arm around Six. 

“Speak for yourself! You and Six are so disgustingly in love.” Hana said with a cheeky smile, not looking up from the handheld game in her hands. “It’s distracting as hell.”

Mei chuckled before speaking up. “Uhm, where did you get some of the scars you have? There’s a lot of them…” 

Six laughed, though it seemed somewhat forced. “No kidding, doll. Well, the one going around my hairline is from when a group of crazed robotic computer things stole some of my internal organs and replaced them with cotton fluff.” He traced the thin scar to emphasize his point.

“What?!” Lucio cried, jumping forward in his seat. 

“Yup. I hate telling this story because no one ever believes it, but yeah, that’s the gist of what happened. I also have similar scars over my spine and my heart, if that’s any help.” 

“Wait, so like, what happened?” Lena asked, raising a brow.

“This was when I was in the wastelands, post total nuclear war. Someone had tipped me off about a satellite causing villagers headaches from its ear piercing pings, and when I went to investigate, I got knocked out and woke up in some research lab missing some internal organs and my spine.”

“How were you even sentient?” Angela questioned. “Without a brain, you’d be dead, right?”

“You’d think. I’m not even sure exactly how they did this, but my body was controlling itself on its own, while my brain was kept floating in a jar.”

“That makes no sense, but you have the scars…” 

“There were other poor souls who weren’t as lucky as I am and were completely lobotomized. Living vegetables, absolutely chilling to see. The stupid computer scientist things made me run around and collect shit for them before I got a chance at getting my brain back. I actually had to argue with it to come back inside our body. It took me bringing up food to convince it to come back…” 

Hana burst into a fit of giggles, causing a few of the others to join in on her contagious laughter. Six took a sip of the drink he had before speaking again. 

“The ones that’re normally on my mouth and neck are from when I got ransacked by a group of wendigos up north. Nasty things. Pray that you never encounter ‘em. I hide them because they scare kids. The one above the brow is from Benny, when he shot me in the Mojave.”

“You know, I never really knew why he shot you…” Ana mentioned, taking a sip from her tea.

“It was for the package I was carrying. A key to an underground bunker with a metric fuck ton of weapons in it. Though he stole something really important and really personal from me, something he never should’ve gotten his hands on.”

“You mean the Platinum Chip, yes?” Genji asked, to which Six nodded. 

“What’s the Platinum Chip?” Satya piped up. “It sounds like a poker piece. What’s so important about it?”

Six sighed. “It’s rather complicated. Genji and I have told you all about the magic thing, yes?”

There were nods throughout the room, prompting Six to continue. 

“Part of that includes having things on me that could potentially change the course of history. One of which being the Platinum Chip.” Six reached into his inner jacket pocket and pulled out the small, metal poker chip, running through his fingers and showing it to the group. 

“But it’s just a poker chip. What could that little thing do to change history?” Angela questioned. 

“This little thing was made to be the key to controlling Las Vegas, the one thing that could shut down or reinforce the army of Securitrons that lie in wait underneath the city. Though, the bots don’t exist here. Yet. Point is, someone could figure it out, and build the system around the Chip, should they get their hands on it. And that’s what this fucker wanted to do.”

Six sighed, debating as to whether or not it was worth it telling them anymore. They don’t need to worry about a potentially apocalyptic future, even though the bombs dropped in 2077 in what he deemed the Fallout timelines. No need to scare them, even though Genji already knew thanks to the soulgaze. Besides, the Chip itself wasn’t exactly all that important in this timeline, now that Six had secured it. This reincarnation of Benny (someone Six had already met and dealt with in another timeline) took much longer to decipher the hidden instructions within the Chip than he really should have, so there was really nothing to worry about. At least, he hoped. He really didn’t want to have to teach his new friends how to survive nuclear fallout… 

“Um, this question might be a little dumb, but… what’s your name? Your real name, not a codename.” Mei asked quietly, embarrassed at her own question. Six let out a sigh and gently squeezed Genji’s hand in discomfort. 

“No, I was expecting that question eventually.” He exhaled through his nose, pausing before speaking again. “You’re right in saying Six isn’t my real name. It’s just a number, after all. But… as a magic wielder, a name is a powerful thing. If your full name was to get in the wrong person’s hands, they’d have a lot of power over you. It’s happened too many a time to me, so I take all precautions.” 

“So then why did you choose the name Six, then? Out of curiosity.” Zenyatta asked, reminding everyone of his presence. 

“It was the last digit of a numeric code I got assigned a long time ago when I enlisted in an army. Figured it’d be shorter than the full twelve digit code, so I just started going by Six. I got so used to it that it just became the name I used everywhere.” Six shrugged. “A lot of the things I do don’t have much symbolic meaning, ‘m afraid.”

“May I ask you something else?” Zenyatta asked, voice as calm and even as ever. 

“Go ahead, dude.” Six took a quick drink. 

“If I might inquire, what was it about my pupil that drew you to him?” An innocent question from an innocent soul. 

In the corner of his eye, he could see Hana put down her game and lean forward with Lena, both curious to hear. Genji chuckled awkwardly, curious to see what Six would answer. The Courier laughed.

“Besides the fact we hooked up that night?” He chuckled. “Seriously, though. After that initial night, there was just something that interested me about him. Might’ve been the way he treated me, or how he looked at me.” 

He snapped his fingers in realization. “Wait, I know what it was! He had this attitude about him, making him seem like he was so damn important, but I could tell he was hiding behind it. I’m naturally inclined to help people, so I tried to worm my way in and find out, and along the way, I just… fell in love, y’know?”

Several “aww”s sounded throughout the room, and Six blushed in embarrassment. Way to put him on the spot, Zenny. The omnic chuckled softly, and if he could smile, he definitely would. 

“What about you, Genji?” Lucio asked, a grin on his face. “What made you fall for Six?”

“Why do you all insist on embarrassing us?” Genji muttered, a laugh breaking his words.

“No no, I had my turn. You say all the mushy shit.” Six teased, nudging Genji’s shoulder with his fist gently. “How did you fall in love with me?”

Genji laughed. “Fine, fine. Uhm… Well, if we’re talking about when we met in the arcade, it was just the fact you were a foreigner. They are a rare type in Hanamura, considering it’s a criminal district. That, and the fact you were really physically attractive.” 

“Aww.” Six laughed. “Now what about what you fell for?” He taunted, voice overly exaggerated.

“Ugh, why are you like this?” Genji chuckled, wrapping his arm around Six’s shoulders. “To be honest, it was the way you carried yourself. Like you had the world on your shoulders, yet you still held your head high. Your confidence in anything you did, how genuine you were about things… One of the things you brought up on that initial trip to Hanamura, how you needed to know exactly where we would go… I’d never seen that before.” He chuckled awkwardly. “At least, in that playboy lifestyle. I don’t know exactly what it was, other than I was drawn in from the beginning.”

“This adorableness is making me sick.” Jesse quipped, chuckling as he did. Murmurs of agreement filled the room as Angela and Lena cooed over how cute the two were being. A brief moment passed before Hana spoke up.

“So like, what does it feel like to use magic? Like, physically. I’ve always wondered what it felt like in video games, and you’re a real life wizard.” 

Six hummed, pausing to think before answering. “Good question. If you’ve ever been electrocuted, it’s somewhat like that, but not as painful. It’s like having all the power in the world coursing through you, all of it at your whim. And, after years of training, it really is. To be blunt, it feels like raw electricity being pushed from your core to your fingertips. Or wherever else you’re casting it from.”

“Wait, can you cast magic from your feet?” Jesse asked, an excited look on his face. 

“Yeah, though it’s more difficult.”

“Your elbows?”

“Uh, yeah, with practice.” Six was starting to sound uneasy. He didn’t want to hear where else he was going to ask about… 

“Your ass?!” Hana yelled, grinning and laughing. Ah, so Hana was the one he would have been worried about.

“I mean, I guess-” Six started to mumble before Satya yelled over him. 

“That is inappropriate!” A deep flush stained her face, and it was very noticeable, even against her darker skin. “Ask things like that in private, not in front of a crowd.”

Hana blew a raspberry with her tongue and curled back up on the couch, giggling as she did. Lena was also having a giggle fit, and high fived the Korean gamer. After a while of just laughter, someone else piped up.

“Tell us about some of your adventures!” Mei begged, bouncing her legs and smiling in excitement. Six couldn’t help but laugh; it had to be illegal to be that cute. 

“Alright, sure. Let’s see, what’s one of the stories I haven’t told yet…” Six pondered aloud, his brows scrunching together in thought. “Well, one of the sillier stories would have to be during my first trip to Thedas. It’s a distant planet that’s not near as technologically advanced as the rest of the galaxy. It’s more isolated, and as such, we didn’t know about it for a long time. When I was there the first time, I got dragged into this group called the Grey Wardens, warriors who would fight off large hoards of demons they called Blights. Not too many of those Blights happen, but I just so conveniently showed up for their fifth.

“Point being, I ended up being one of the last few Wardens left after some dick named Loghain betrayed us and killed off most of the Wardens. It was me, this doofy guy named Alistair, and two elves, Deryth and Thalia. Yeah, elves and dwarves exist in this world, by the way. It’s a cookie cutter fantasy world, lemme tell ya.” Six chuckled to himself. 

“Well, we eventually figured out that Loghain was trying to cause civil war, so we got caught up in all that political nonsense. The Queen- Loghain’s daughter, funny enough- had been captured by some of Loghain’s guys, so we had to go rescue her. Well, it was a trap, and the Queen handed us over without even stopping to think about it, the prick. We fight, I end up getting knocked out, and next thing I know, I’m in some cell in my underwear.”

“Are you serious?!” Lucio asked, laughing hysterically and slapping his knee. 

Six nodded, a smile on his face. “Yeahhh, not my best moment. I can get taking away a prisoners weapons and stuff, but my clothes, too? Couldn’t even keep my underclothes? Or a pair of pants at the very least?” 

He paused before continuing. “This part was told to me, as I was kinda trapped in a jail cell in my smallclothes. Alistair, the doof I mentioned earlier, was the one who came to my rescue. As well as my dog. Apparently, they had to bluff their way in, and Alistair let the dog do the bluffing. And it worked.” He sighed. “I am still fathoming to this day how in the hell a dog could successfully trick guards, but knowing how much those Fereldans like dogs…

“Anyways, Alistair and the dog burst in and broke me out, and Alistair almost didn’t give me back my clothes. I had my pants, thankfully, but I got to run barefoot and shirtless through a barrage of angry guards with an idiot witholding my gear and a warhound. And that is the story of how I rode out of one of the most heavily guarded fortresses I’ve ever seen in only a pair of pants on a dog while my friend chased after us.” 

“Oh my goodness…” Satya said, laughing as she did. 

“Have you any other tales?” Angela asked, earning a nod from Ana. Six shrugged. 

“Sure I do, I got at least three hundred years worth of stories, heh. Just gotta think a’ which one to tell…” Six chuckled, bringing his fingertips to his chin in thought. He really did have a lot to choose from. “How about the time I ended up in a high school full of pigeons?”

“...I’m almost scared to hear this story.” Ana chuckled. “Pigeons? As in the birds?”

“Yeah. It was a bird school. For birds.” Six groaned. “I end up in the weirdest places, I tell ya. And it wasn’t my choice, I just woke up one day in Japan and boom, bird school. For  _ birds _ . There was one other human who went to the school named Hiyoko, but she was… primitive. And I mean that literally, she lived in a cave and was obsessed with udon.”

“Of course the bird school was in Japan.” Hana murmured. 

“I know. And things got especially weird when Hiyoko and I got stuck having to date the birds in order to avoid assassination from a bird extremist political group.”

“Are you sure you aren’t making this up?” Lena asked, raising a brow. 

“Seriously, I wish I was. This was one of the weirdest things that has ever happened to me. And I was “lucky” enough to be in a birdie relationship with the secret spy bird. Was a fantail pigeon that could use guns…” He sighed. “Nothing made sense. I still think I hallucinated the entire thing, honestly, but it’s still perfectly clear in my memory. Don’t even get me started on the other birds, though… One was a pigeon who couldn’t speak English and communicated through elaborate cooing that we all could still somehow understand and was unreasonably obsessed with pudding… Another was a fat ass partridge that tried to decapitate me with a cleaver. He could only use one wing, too. Not entirely sure how that worked…” 

“And these were birds? Little pigeons?” Angela was utterly baffled, as was most of the room. 

“Yeah. Nothing made sense. Also, there were so many bird puns. Instead of saying “everybody,” they said “everybirdie.” It was the absolute worst thing in the world.” 

“Even worse than being crushed under a hunk of concrete?” Ana asked dryly, a smile on her face. 

“Even worse than that.”


	12. A Snippet From the Past

_ The sun had long since set when Courier Six’s plane touched down on Japanese soil. His footsteps were soft, and his movements controlled as he strode forward, down the stairs of the plane. His face was expressionless, his jaw tight, as he exited the plane and approached his friend. The young man had his head hung in shame, unable to face the stoic foreigner.  _

_ “Let’s go. The faster we get this done, the sooner we can recover and move on.” Six said, voice low and even. His tone terrified Hanzo, causing the young man to swallow hard and nod.  _

_ While it was an extremely long walk, it was one that was familiar to the Courier. Long walks were his life, through all sorts of terrains and weather. Often times through sand and thunder, through rock and dust, through forest and valley. Rarely through a city street with his mourning friend at his side.  _

_ His face was not covered, no helmet, for once. He felt exposed without it, but putting it on would only make things worse for him. He wanted the world to see him now, to see him soldier through. Everyone who passed by him and saw his face could see that he was in a deep pain, through the thinly veiled mask of a facial expression. Nothing else mattered to him, his love was gone, and it was all because of a culture that forced the two brothers into such an awful set of circumstances.  _

_ Six was clearly not raised in this cultural climate, rather from one that allows youth to rebel against their parents. One that doesn’t demand that the youth suppress everything and pack it all into a bottle. One that thinks suicide is more preferable than a mental breakdown. Honestly, in the two years since Hanzo killed his brother, Six was surprised that Hanzo was still alive. Not that that was a bash against him, quite the contrary. Six was proud that he had kept going despite the fact that guilt and self loathing were eating away at him.  _

_ The two were silent the entire way to Shimada castle, the only sounds coming from them being the echoes of their footsteps. Six’s were light and graceful, while Hanzo’s were heavy and sluggish. The Courier hadn’t even bothered to change from his Express uniform, and as such, the worn leather duster hanging from his shoulders billowed behind him. Hanzo strode by his side, hardly managing to keep his cool composure as they made their way to his home. He knew that Six wouldn’t want him to cry, or at least, he thought so.  _

_ As they crossed the threshold into the castle, the servants gasped and bowed at the lost Courier and their master. They had all been under the impression that Six was dead, like much of the world. However, upon seeing him stand before them, they knew that it was true, that Courier Six was alive. He made his way wordlessly to the castle’s inner courtyard, to the garden he had treasured so much, to the tree he and Genji had claimed as their own. Hanzo nodded to the servants, and they left the two in solitude in the clear garden.  _

_ This had been the last place Six had seen Genji, years ago, before he had returned home to the Mojave’s sands. He had been resting against the cherry tree’s base, looking up at Six with that wide grin on his face and a handheld gaming console in his hand. He had forced Six to promise that he’d come again within the next month, swearing that being apart from him was the worst feeling in the world. Little did he know…  _

_ As per Six’s request, a small plaque in place of a headstone rested at the tree’s base, one which he knelt down in front of. Genji’s name was carved into the granite slab, both in kanji and in English, with his birth and death dates in smaller text below. Six pulled off the leather glove on his right hand, exposing his skin to the chill of the November air, and gently ran his fingertips over his name. No tears came, there were none left for him to shed as a feeling of numbness overcame him. Not another one, yet another loss for him to have to face.  _

_ Six, in being an immortal, had lost more than a few friends and lovers before. Countless names and faces all dead, with Six being the lone survivor every single time. As if he really had a choice in that matter. He had hoped that perhaps he could live a life with Genji after retiring from the Express; at least, this universe’s incarnation of them. Genji deserved a life Six couldn’t give him, and now, he had no life at all. He was dead, buried under the earth. Six had failed him.  _

_ The wind blew, sweeping up Six’s duster to his left side. Hanzo knelt down on his right, leaving about a foot of space between the two of them. Autumn leaves floated along in the breeze, managing to miss the two every time. Likely due to Six’s magical presence; it worked in mysterious ways at times. Silence hung in the air, the only sounds being the wind, small chimes set up throughout the garden, and the sound of birds above the sky. The chimes softly clanged together in an uncoordinated tune, one that Six found some solace in.  _

_ In this moment, this quiet, undisturbed moment, Six felt oddly at peace. It surprised him; typically in these types of situations, he would be full of regret and anger, sorrow and rage. Yet now, he felt nothing. Yes, Genji was gone, and yes, he would never have him back, but for some reason or another, Six felt right with the world. A feeling he rarely had anymore. He pulled his hand back from the grave and placed it in his lap, staring down at the granite with melancholy eyes.  _

_ He wasn’t certain how long he and Hanzo knelt there, but he knew it wasn’t dark when they first came outside. Inhaling deeply and letting his eyes slide shut, he traced out the rune for a small spell on his thigh, willing power into the silent incantation. He let out the deep breath, and with it, the power of the spell was released into the world. A few seconds passed before the first small flash of a firefly appeared in the corner of his field of vision. His gaze did not falter away from Genji’s grave as the soft light provided by the fireflies lit the garden.  _

_ Hanzo, opening his eyes from the meditative state he was in, raised his brows in shock upon seeing the small lightning bugs. They should all have died out due to the cold at this point, what were they doing here? It didn’t take him long to figure out it was Six’s doing, and his face relaxed. He recalled that Genji had always loved watching fireflies, and catching them when they were children. The younger Shimada had taken Six to a field on one of their first dates to watch the fireflies dance. Another wave of emotion crashed over him, and it took all of his self control to keep from breaking down then and there.  _

_ Without speaking a word, Six reached his exposed hand over to Hanzo, taking his left hand in his. Again, his gaze did not falter, and a miniscule, hardly noticeable smile curled his lips. Hanzo looked to him in surprise, trying to say something, but no words would come out. Surely Six knew what he was doing, but why would he offer comfort to the one who killed the man he loved? Especially with such a pathetic reason?  _

_ Hanzo had no right to get that angry with his only brother. He had no right to pick a fight, to turn his blade against his own kin for no good reason. Sure, it had seemed right at the time, but the second Genji’s life left his eyes, he had felt regret. There was no explanation for this other than Hanzo had made a grave mistake, joke unintended.  _

_ And Six had loved Genji with all his heart. Genji had felt the same, and Six had had his love stolen from him. And yet, he did not turn his back on Hanzo. He was not enraged, not vengeful, as Hanzo had expected. There was no malice in his tone, nor his actions, nor his touch as he gently grasped his hand in his own calloused one. Six’s hands were soft, he noted, though there were deep callouses from years of handling weaponry. Small scars were littered around the pale skin of his fingers, from small scratches to what looked like bullet wounds and animal bites. No wonder he always kept himself completely covered.  _

_ He could sense everything Six felt with his touch, and he could feel all of the love Six had for both of the brothers. Granted, his love for Hanzo was completely different than his feelings for his brother, but regardless, it was there and it was strong. Six had come all this way for Hanzo’s sake, not his own. He came to do this for Hanzo. To bring him any sense of comfort and forgiveness he could. He truly was one of the most selfless people Hanzo had ever met, and it was bringing him to his breaking point.  _

_ “I always enjoyed the fireflies.” Six said, gaze ever unmoving and low voice ever unwavering. “Even before meeting you two. The soft light they provide could never light up a storm, though. At least, not on their own. But together…” He trailed off, looking up at the first branches of the cherry tree.  _

_ Hanzo followed his gaze and watched in awe as all of the fireflies clustered together, their light gathering together and radiating over the two mourners. A few stragglers still floated near their faces and around the base of the tree, but he paid them little mind as he took in what the lightning bugs were doing.  _

_ “Together they can light the way.” Six finished, voice hardly above a whisper.  _

_ The Courier’s smile grew just a tad, and a smaller cluster of torchbugs broke off from the group to form themselves in a small halo like crown around Six’s face. His face was illuminated by their actions, and he looked like he was glowing. His grip on Hanzo’s hand tightened ever so slightly as he turned to look at the elder Shimada.  _

_ “I know you can move past this, Hanzo,” He began, the volume of his voice raising to a normal speaking level. “But I also know you well enough to know that you can’t on your own.” _

_ “Why are you doing this…?” Hanzo whispered. “I’m the one who killed him; I don’t deserve your forgiveness, nor your kindness.” _

_ Six let out a low laugh. “Anyone else would agree with you. However, I’ve lived long enough to know that everyone deserves a second chance.” _

_ Hanzo hung his head in shame, turning his gaze away from Six and back to his brother’s grave. He didn’t notice the growing cluster of lightning bugs forming around his soft hair, gathering in a laurel shape. Tears were finally beginning to sting his eyes, and he forced them shut. He wouldn’t dare embarrass himself further, especially not in front of Six.  _

_ And yet, he felt like he  _ could _ with Six. He felt as is maybe, just maybe, he could let his guard down around him. No, that line of thinking was ridiculous. Hanzo was raised and taught to always have your emotions in check, to never show any signs of weakness. No Shimada would be caught dead crying, especially in front of another. Death was better than that. Or so he had been raised to believe.  _

_ Six was a patient man, not wavering, not giving up on the mourning elder brother. And as such, he simply looked back down at the grave, inscribing another rune onto his leg with his free hand. A ward of protection, a type of shield to prevent Hanzo from fatal injuries. He had already lost one of the brothers; he didn’t plan on losing the other one any time soon. While Hanzo was no lover of his, nor did he think he ever would be, he still meant the world to Six. He saw himself in him, and since he was still so young, he wanted to be there for him. Hanzo needed a friend, a true friend, and damnit, Six was the only one who could really do it.  _

_ After about an hour of silence, the fireflies began to slowly disperse and return to wherever they had come from. Once they were all gone, the only light was that of the moon and the lanterns lit along the courtyard walls. Six let out a deep breath and let go of Hanzo’s hand in favor of standing. The Shimada rose with him, both of their legs wobbly from kneeling for so long. A look of seriousness overtook Six’s face as he met Hanzo in the eye. The Courier’s eyes looked haunting in the darkness, Hanzo noted.  _

_ “I need to ask a favor of you.” Six stated, pulling a small flip phone from his inner duster pocket and placing it in Hanzo’s hand. “Send me all of the data on Genji’s phone, then destroy it. This phone is wired to only be able to call me. It works on any network, so don’t worry about that. Should you ever need me, for whatever reason, give me a call.” _

_ “This is some really old technology…” Hanzo muttered.  _

_ Six chuckled. “Because this kind of phone, thanks to my modifications, can’t be hacked or traced. Got to keep my location a secret, after all. Look, my point is, I’m here if you need me. Just call.” He closed his hands around Hanzo’s, a soft expression taking over his features.  _

_ “I… I will.” Hanzo nodded. “Thank you. For everything…”  _

_ “Of course. I’ve already lost one friend. No point in losing another.” _


	13. Game Night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter was entirely too fun to write

Six had really begun to like working with the colorful crowd that made up Overwatch. The wide assortment of personality packed within the base’s walls was almost overwhelming at times, but it was something he had quickly become adjusted to. While he was still a recluse compared to most of the other members, they had warmed up to him, and he had found a few people he considered genuine friends (aside from the two Shimadas), a label he rarely threw around. He’d lived long enough to go through more betrayals than one should really be able to handle from people he had considered close friends; it was something he was very careful not to repeat. 

And yet he found himself finding a friendship in Jack Morrison. He had felt a friendship between them for awhile, from before his accident with Hanzo’s dragons, but he felt as if Jack only saw him as a child at that point. Which is fucking hilarious, considering how many times older Six is. Regardless, he and Jack saw each other as surrogates for a father-son relationship neither one really had for the longest time. It was only when Six asked about Reyes that he felt that change. Neither one liked to talk about that conversation. Both let out a lot of really personal things in that moment, and while they didn’t regret telling each other, the both felt that it was best if none of the other members knew about what all they had talked about for the sake of their own privacy. 

He had also found solace in his friendship with Zenyatta, unsurprisingly. Even though he was omnic, he felt more human than most of the people Six had ever met. While Zenyatta did try his best to help Six as he did Genji, the Courier rejected his help. For the most part, at least. Some of what the monk said stuck with him, but really, he hated himself far too much for Zenyatta to really be of any help. He had over three hundred years worth of self loathing built up; that shit doesn’t come down easily. However, the omnic was a persistent one, and would still do his best to help Six without seeming too overbearing. In all honesty, Six had never really met someone like Zenyatta. Sure, he’d met wise people and androids, but Zen was a unique one. He held what seemed like all the world’s tranquility wrapped around his warm, carbon steel fingertips. 

Hana, Lucio, and Lena were also quick to invite Six into their group after the question and answer session he held. They were as Six would expect from some of the youngest members: fun loving, witty, and energetic. However, Hana’s backstory (which Six learned not long after befriending her) added a lot more weight to her presence, and Six empathized with her, having been a soldier himself at a very young age. 

Lena was the one who brought up the idea of a team game night, and as expected, Hana was the first to join in on the idea. Lucio soon after, then Six, Genji, Jamie (surprisingly), and Angela. Jack came along to “supervise,” aka make sure no one kills someone else over Mario Party. Reinhardt also came along to get in on the excitement. 

Everyone gathered in the recreation room Hana had helped transform into a gaming haven for the evening. The home theater had been hooked up to various consoles the Korean gamer had dragged out of her room, and the large projection screen was clearly visible to everyone. The reclining seats had been moved off to the side, and in their place, blankets, pillows, and bean bags were scattered around. A small table filled to the brim with snacks was set off to the side of the room near the door, one Jamie was quick to raid the second he stepped into the room. The lights in the spacious room were half dimmed, enough so that the projection screen could be seen and people could still walk around without tripping over each other. 

Jack and Angela took their places on two of the recliners to the side of the room, watching everyone with a parental gaze. Something that Six would never  _ not _ find funny. Reinhardt, on the other hand, had plopped down in the very center of the room, sitting crisscross applesauce on the mass of pillows with the most excited look on his face. Lena sat next to him in a similar fashion, but anyone could tell that Reinhardt was significantly more excited than the speed racer. For once. Six and Genji had made themselves cozy in a small bundle of the blankets, sitting to the left of their friends. Hana booted up the first console and slipped in a game while Lucio checked the sound station to make sure everything was in order. 

A brief moment passed before the game’s title screen came on and everyone saw that the first thing they were playing was Mario Party. Everyone could hear Jack’s exasperated sigh, but only barely above Reinhardt’s excited shout. 

“Yes! I love this game!” He yelled, a broad grin on his scarred face. SIx chuckled. 

“Should we divide into teams?” Six suggested, causing various agreements to sound out. 

Six and Genji were a team, who could have guessed. Hana and Lucio teamed up, Lena with Reinhardt, and Angela with Jamie. The teams chose their character and rolled the in game dice to see who would go first, and Jamie groaned when he figured out he and Angela were going last. Reinhardt and Lena let out a small cheer as they went first and took their turn. They landed on a mini game tile, and as the randomizer spun to pick the game, Hana swiped the controller from Lucio’s hands. How he even got it in the first place, no one was certain. 

“Oh god, not this mini game.” Six groaned. “I suck at these!”

“It’s a co-op racing game! You got this, Six!” Hana said, smiling deviously to herself. 

“You mean  _ you _ have this.” Angela quipped, chuckling afterwards as she and Jamie figured out the mini game’s controls. 

“Yeah, I do!” Hana giggled, lying with her stomach to the ground and her arms with the controller in front of her. She propped herself up with several pillows as she took off in the race. 

“Ah! We are falling behind!” Reinhardt cried, jerking the controller with Lena as they tried to figure out what they were doing. 

Their raft crashed into the rocky edge of the virtual river, and they let out a frustrated cry as Jamie and Angela sped past them, trying to catch up with the other two teams. Six and Hana were neck in neck, each ramming into the other to knock them off balance. Genji and Lucio cried out encouragements to their team member, bouncing with excitement as they spectated the game. Jamie and Angela were lagging so far behind everyone else, they would just be happy if they caught up with Lena’s circling raft. 

Six groaned and laughed as Hana knocked him far off course, cementing her victory in the mini game. She and Lucio cheered as they claimed the win, patting Reinhardt on the shoulder as he frowned at losing. 

“Sorry, Grandpa.” Hana said, taking a swig of the soda she had. “GG!” 

“It is alright! We will still be victorious!” He smiled, patting Lena on the back. 

“Heck yeah we will!” She cheered. 

Six and Genji took their turn next, getting a lucky roll and landing on one of the hotel spaces. Of course, they then bought the hotel with all the coins they had from the mini game and boosted their stats up. Hana grunted in annoyance, while Jamie and Angela tried to figure out what that even meant. They had never played Mario Party before, after all. 

“Wait, what did you guys just do?” Jamie asked, confusion etched on his face. 

“This is the hotel map. You’re supposed to buy the hotels and whoever has the best ones at the end of the game wins.” Hana explained, turning her head to the pyromaniac. 

“Ohh.” 

“So then we must have the best business practices!” Angela declared, smiling. 

“Uh, sure.” Hana laughed. 

Because Six landed on a hotel space, there was no mini game this round, and as such, Lena and Reinhardt took their turn. Reinhardt did his best with the dinky controller in his giant hands, and ended up landing on a money tile. Their character was swimming in coins now, and they were rich!

“Huzzah! We will have the best hotels!” Reinhardt cried, high fiving Lena. 

Genji laughed and watched the screen as the randomizer selected another mini game. He and Six had switched places, so now Genji was controlling their character and Six was wrapped around him in their little blanket cocoon. The randomizer slowed down, and came to a stop on a cake making mini game. It looked like a 2 vs 2 game, so they would be on a team with one of the other groups. 

“Oh, I love this game! I was really good at this one when I played it last time!” Lena said, gently taking the controller from Reinhardt’s hands. Jamie and Angela also switched off, with Angela taking the lead. Hana firmly held onto her controller, and honestly, Lucio knew that they would lose if he took it, so he made no complaints. 

The game began, and it was Genji and Lena set against Hana and Angela. As soon as they were able to move, Genji and Hana were swift to begin assembling the cake decorations as the game instructed. Lena and Angela did their best to support their team mates, but neither were very skilled at games, while Hana was a professional and Genji had spent countless hours in the arcade in his youth. They didn’t really stand much of a chance, but damnit, they were going to try their best. 

“Are those entire halves of oranges you’re putting on there?” Jack asked, reminding everyone that he was there. 

“Dude, I have no idea.” Six murmured. 

As the clock ticked away, the players’ movements became even more panicked. Lena did her best to help out, and in the end, she was the one to get the final piece in place mere nanoseconds before Hana, cementing victory for her and Genji. The speedster cheered and reached over to high five Genji. 

“Agh, are you kidding me?” Hana groaned, playfully sticking her tongue out at the other players. “We were so close!”

“Did I do a good job at this game?” Angela asked innocently. “I’m afraid I don’t play these games very often.”

“You did great.”

“My turn.” Lucio said as Hana passed him the controller and his character sped along down the row of tiles. He landed on another hotel space and looked to Hana. 

“Buy the hotel and up it as much as you can.” She said through a mouthful of chips. 

Lucio hummed in understanding and did as she said, getting them the hotel. Jamie was next up, and he managed to get a little past Six. He landed on a star tile, and was confused when Hana and Six groaned in annoyance. 

“What? Did I do somefin’ good?” He asked. 

“Yeah, the goal is to have the most stars. And, in this map’s case, the best hotels.” Six replied, taking a quick drink before taking the controller from Genji. 

“Ohh. And we’re the only ones with ‘ny stars!” He cried, high fiving Angela. 

“Hooray! Are we winning?” The doctor asked. 

“Sure. Now you have to keep the star and get more hotels.” Lena said. 

“Wait, you can steal our star?” 

“No! It’s mine!” Jamie frowned and crossed his arms. “Don’t take it!”

“Pfft, now I want to.” Hana smirked. 

“Nooo!” He yelled. 

Once again, it was Lena and Reinhardt’s turn, and once again, they landed on a mini game tile. The one that the randomizer chose was a 1 vs 3, one where Lena had a lot of power. It was a game that had the other three characters on the roof of a house, and the fourth person is running a snow plow-type device that threw snow at those on the roof. The goal of the game it to avoid getting hit and thrown off the roof. 

“Ughh, I hate this one.” Hana muttered. “The person throwing snow has so much power! It’s not fair.” 

Lena giggled. “I might win this one, then.”

“You won the last one!”

“Only thanks to Genji!” 

Genji smiled, nestled in between Six’s legs with his back to his chest. His visor was off, and everyone could see that little smile on his scarred face. He was awfully comfortable, and really hoped the game would go on for a while so he could stay snug. 

The mini game started, and for once, Jamie’s constant jittering did him a favor. He managed to dodge every snowball Lena lobbed at him, while Six and Hana were struggling to keep up. The Courier hummed in disappointment as Lena threw him off the side of the roof and he plopped into the snow. He rested his head on Genji’s shoulder while he watched Hana and Jamie dodge Lena. The pro gamer was struggling, something none of them were really expecting. They also weren’t expecting to see her get nailed in the face by Lena’s snowball. 

“Oh my god, whaaat?!” She yelled. “Are you kidding me?” 

“Sorry, love!” Lena said. “I’m in it to win it!” 

“Don’t steal my lines!”

Jamie was the only one left, and the timer was running out. He frantically dashed around the roof, avoiding ice patches and Lena’s blows. Thirty seconds turned into twenty, to ten, to five, to zero, and Jamie was still standing. He let out a cheer, as did Angela. 

“Aww!” Lena pouted. “I tried, Rein.”

“It’s alright, my friend! You did your best, and that is all I can ask.” He gently patted her shoulder. 

Six chuckled, passing off the controller and curling his arms around Genji’s waist. The other teams switched their controllers. Genji rolled the virtual dice and shot forward on the game board, landing on a star tile. He cheered quietly, while Hana audibly sighed. 

“How come we aren’t getting any stars?” She moaned. 

“It’s a game of chance, Hana.” Six said nonchalantly. “Everything’s randomized. There’s no real skill required.”

“You’re right. Next game is gonna be one that requires skill!” 

“Oh, dear.” Angela chuckled. 

“Say, do we have any Street Fighter?” Six asked. 

“Yeah, I’ve got two of them. Should we do that next?” 

Six nodded, nudging Genji. Of course the cyborg knew what he was alluding to, but they weren’t sure if the rest of the group knew. They knew. And thought it was adorable. The rest of the game went on, with Lena and Reinhardt taking an unexpected lead midway through. The game ended up in a tie, with Angela and Jamie having the most stars and Six and Genji having the most hotels. The duked it out in another mini game, and surprisingly, Angela won. As a prize for their victory, they got first pick of what kind of pizza to order. Snacks could only get them so far, after all. They had planned for an all night gaming session. 

After their food had been ordered, Hana switched out the gaming consoles and put in Street Fighter. Coincidentally, it was the same one that was in the Hanamura arcade. Genji let out a low, soft laugh, one only Six could hear.

“Oh, it’s on, baby.” The Courier whispered. 

“I can only wonder if this round of Street Fighter will end up like the last one.” Genji murmured. 

“Depends on if I win or not.” 

“I don’t know, if I’m remembering correctly, if you winning really mattered.”

Six squeezed Genji’s waist. “Let’s see if that mouth of your’s can win me over again, Shimada.”

Luckily, everyone else was oblivious to their flirtatious remarks, too absorbed in their own conversations to notice. Wouldn’t want to embarrass Genji, after all. He wasn’t too big on other people hearing them engaging in more intimate talk and/or actions. PDA was already difficult enough, excluding hand holding and cuddling in moments like this. 

Hana clicked through the title screen and selected 2 player mode before standing in front of her group of friends. 

“Okay, so the only way multiple people can play this is through a player versus player match. We’re gonna have to go two at a time.” She explained. “Who wants to go first? I’m not gonna, I need to go get more sodas.”

“Oo! I will, I will!” Lena yelled, waving her hand in the air. Hana handed her one controller. 

“Lemme at it! I’m better at these kinds a’ games!” Jamie said, taking the other controller when the Korean passed it over to him. 

“Okay, controls are pretty simple, ou should be able to figure it out on your own. I’ll be right back.” She turned on her heel and walked out the door, her bare feet padding along the cool tile floors outside the carpeted home theater. Jack checked his phone and saw that food had arrived, and he stood and followed Hana out the doorway. 

Jamie and Lena selected random characters and then their match began. Lena was slower at this than the Aussie, so Jamie got a quick attack in and knocked off a chunk of her health bar. She grunted before getting back up and using a sweeping kick to knock Jamie to the ground, quickly landing in another blow before he went down. She was relentless in her attacks, and the Aussie hardly had a chance to get off the ground and fight back. Their health was both about at the halfway mark, something which both seemed keen to change. 

The rest of the group was adamant in cheering on their friends, reacting whenever something happened. Angela clapped every time someone landed a major blow, her eyes wide with excitement. Reinhardt was obviously the loudest in his cheering, and if the other members didn’t know about the game night before, they did now. His laughter rumbled deep in his chest, bellowing out in the spacious room and the rest of the base through the ventilation system. At least everyone knew the old soldier was having fun. 

At last, someone’s health bar reached zero, and it was Lena’s. She “aww”ed in disappointment, but still shook Jamie’s hand and congratulated him on his victory. They then switched off controllers with Lucio and Reinhardt, who jumped straight into their next game. Six and Genji watched intently, voicing their support, but nowhere near as loudly as the rest of the group. These two were playing their own game, that being who can tease the other into making any sort of noise. Due to their nest of blankets, no one could really see what they were doing. No one was paying them any mind anyways, more interested in the thrilling game. Small, lingering touches were exchanged, each using their knowledge of their partner’s more sensitive spots against them. Oh yeah, this was gonna end up like the first time they played Street Fighter. They paid little mind to the game coming to a close until they were offered the controllers. 

“You two played this when you met, right?” Lucio asked, an innocent grin on his face. “You should go next!”

Six laughed. “Sure, why not?” 

The two unraveled themselves from their blanket nest and sat down in front of the projection screen. They took the controllers and selected their characters, side eyeing each other as they did. Six was Chun-Li, Genji was Ryu. Six smirked at his partner.

“Hope you’re ready to lose, baby. Don’t take it personally.”

Genji laughed. “Oh-ho, you underestimate me. This was my game back in the day; you’re going down.”

“Bring it, XBox knock off.”

The two laughed before starting up the match. Genji landed the first blow, stunning Six’s character for a few seconds. Six was quick to snap out of it, skillfully dodging Genji’s next hit and landing a kick to his head. 

“Feels like we should have some Dean Martin playing about now.” Six quipped. 

“Did you really just make that joke?” Genji laughed. “No one else gets your obscure music references.”

Six landed another blow on Genji. “Shush it, you.”

The Shimada laughed as he socked Six’s virtual avatar right in the face. Their friends “ooh”ed behind them, each cheering on one of the two cyborgs. Their cybernetic hands put them both at a disadvantage, but because Six had one real hand left, he had the upper hand. Pun intended. Genji grunted as he watched his character take another heavy blow.

“Damn, I’m rustier at this than I thought.” He muttered.

“Don’t worry, baby, I know there are things you’re good at. Like losing.” Six quipped. 

“Oh, I wouldn’t say that just yet.” Genji retorted, letting his character’s ultimate attack unleash. 

Six was knocked to the side of the screen, only a sliver of his health bar remaining. He growled softly in irritation; he was  _ not _ going down easy. He let out a flurry of quick attacks, bringing Genji’s character into a shocked state. His health bar was lowering with every kick of Chun-Li’s legs, and soon enough, Genji’s character was thrown to the ground in defeat. Six cheered at his victory, as did his friends. Genji sighed, though a smile lingered on his face. 

“I guess I win.” Six grinned. “Sorry, doll.”

“Oh, I’ll get you back for this. Just you wait.” A mischievous look shone in his eyes, causing Six to raise a brow.

“Really now? Is that a call for I rematch I hear?”

“It just might be.”

Yeah. The night ended in near the exact same way it had the last time they did this.


	14. A Snippet From the Past II

_ Another one of the things Six didn’t like to mention is how ridiculously ticklish his sides were. It was something that had been used against him by many a friend, and he absolutely hated being tickled. It was uncomfortable, and he hated the way he laughed when he was tickled. The very word was ridiculous, why would he want someone to tickle him?  _

_ However, it was inevitable that Genji would discover this at some point or another. Every time they saw each other in person, which wasn’t too often considering Six’s work, they ended up getting intimate. They only had a handful of chances to do this, why not take every opportunity they can get? It was one such occasion when Genji ran one of his hands up Six’s bare waist and a snort like giggle left his throat. It was muffled, as the two were in the middle of kissing when it happened. The Shimada pulled back the second he heard it, though, and opened his eyes to see Six with a deep flush on his face and widened eyes. A brief moment passed where neither moved, then a devious smile curled Genji’s lips.  _

_ “You’re ticklish?” He asked.  _

_ “Don’t you fucking dare, Shimada-” Six started to say before Genji began to relentlessly attack Six’s sides and his words were interrupted by his own uncontrollable laughter.  _

_ “You fu-hucking asshole!” He cried between laughs.  _

_ Genji laughed along with him, though for much different reasons. He had finally discovered one of Six’s weaknesses! He was going to have his fun before they continued on, if Six even would after this.  _

_ The Courier was desperate in attempting to get his lover to quit it, trying in vain to push his hands away. However, every time he succeeded, Genji would just go straight back to it. His laughter, uncontrolled and loud, was interrupted by his heavy breaths every time he had a chance to take one in. He reached one of his feet up to Genji’s chest and kicked him back, watching as he landed with an “oof!” on the edge of the bed.  _

_ “Don’t do that, you doof!” Six panted, a smile on his face.  _

_ Genji laughed from his position halfway off the bed. “Your face made it so worth anything you can throw at me. And that laugh!” _

_ “Don’t mock me!” Six whined, crossing his arms. “It’s a weird laugh, I know.” _

_ “No no, it was the cutest thing I’ve ever heard!” Genji sat up and scooted closer to the Courier. “God, can you get any cuter?” _

_ “Probably, if you’d quit embarrassing me.” Six rolled his eyes before a smile broke out on his face. “Dumbass.” _

_ “Never. You’re just so adorable when you’re all red like that.” Genji smirked and kissed his cheek.  _

_ “Oh, piss off, Shimada.” He sighed before smiling and drawing him back in. “Now, I believe we were doing something before you decided to be so cruel?” _

_ “I believe we were.” Genji murmured, closing the gap between them. _

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


_ Six later learned from Hanzo that Genji was also incredibly ticklish, and needless to say, the Courier got his revenge. Genji never tickled him again out of fear. _


	15. Taking Notes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is the last chapter i wrote for nanowrimo and i'm not certain if i should write more??? idk it might happen

In truth, there were actually a lot of things Six never talked about. No one ever thought to ask, so he never said anything. Besides, he had to have some level of privacy. It would also be _really creepy_ to admit he took notes on people. 

In his defense, he took them so he wouldn’t forget people. Despite him being immortal, he had the memory of a stale piece of bread, and as such, he decided to take notes on people and events that happened to him throughout the years. He did this through the audio logs and journal features on his Pip Boy, of course, but he also had a physical notebook he wrote in. A leather bound notebook, with each page filled to the brim with notes on people he had met and had had some kind of impact on him or his life. Every person got one side of a page completely filled on little notes on them to jog Six’s memory. 

Overwatch’s members, plus the Talon trio (as he had dubbed them,) had pages in his notes. Twenty three pages, dedicated to these guys. One of the largest groups he had ever joined, aside from his crew on the Normandy. Even then, he hadn’t given every single crew member a page. Just a list of their names, since there were so many of them on that one ship. Some members of the Overwatch crew had fewer notes than others, since he didn’t know much about them. Roadhog was one of them. The man kept to himself, and was one of little words. It suited the mysterious persona he was presenting, and yet, it was also unsettling. Everything Six knew about Roadhog was what he learned from Jamie, and even then, it wasn’t very much. 

Genji and Hanzo’s pages had been filled for quite awhile, and the pages had documented their changes over the years Six had known them. Sombra and Amelie had filled pages as well, though theirs were more focused on the secrets Six had on them. However, Sombra’s true name was not written, in case someone got ahold of the journal somehow. He promised that no one would know her name thanks to him, and he’s take every precaution to ensure that. He had very little on Gabriel Reyes, but that was due to the fact he had met him once and he had tried to kill him. 

Every time he sat down to write his notes, he tried to make sure he was alone. Or at the very least, in a place where no one could look at what he was writing down. Some hidden nook in the furthest corner of the building was his favorite place to write; better yet, places no one else even knew about. If not available, then his private quarters, a restaurant a ways away from his companions. If strangers saw him writing and asked about it, he could give the excuse that they were characters of his in a book he was planning. No one ever questioned it. 

Six had curled up in the corner of the empty home theater, almost completely hidden from sight as he jotted down notes in his neat scrawl. The room was dimly lit, and because of that, his eyes were slightly strained to see what he was writing. Luckily, the arm he lost was the one he wrote with, and so the lights in his fingers and palm helped illuminate his corner. He was writing about Ana, after learning more about her from her records as a captain and questions he had asked her, as well as some of her behaviorisms. 

_ ‘Lost eye to Amelie. Picks at fingernails when not wearing gloves, often wears gloves to avoid doing  it. Prefers chamomile tea with honey.’ _ He wrote. Short bullet points allowed for more information to fit on the page. 

He sighed as he finished his word, slumping against the reclining chair. Many a time he questioned writing in this journal. It was kind of creepy, honestly. While it had proved to be a good idea for remembering people he had long forgotten, it was his entire life written down on parchment. Anyone could find it and have a lot of information on all of the people significant to him: someone could use this against him and hurt his friends in the process. 

God, he was a damn mess. Someone who should have died so many a time, with the scars to prove it. Someone who should never have been given the powers he had, who could do so much damage, who could affect the course of history at the drop of a hat. He could do things no one else could, he had knowledge many a man had only dreamed of; he was close to a god, in a way. And it scared the daylights out of him. He was someone who had had their childhood stripped away and was forced into this life. Even ridiculous amounts of physical and magical damage couldn’t kill him. While he still felt pain very keenly, nothing could kill him. Hell, he had been decapitated once, and sassed the man who had done the deed while he was just a head. How he had spoken without any lungs, he wasn’t entirely certain. It could have been a hallucination. He did that quite often. 

The fact that he needed a journal just to keep track of everything he had done was already a bad sign. Granted, he could easily blame that on his poor memory. He recalled what seemed like the most useless of things, like strange happenstances and small oddities he had come across, but not dates nor names. Faces, that he could remember, but after having seen so many, the names that went with them all blended together. 

It was in moments like this that his self loathing was in its rawest form. Moments of doubt, of weakness. Of hatred. He was vulnerable, and he knew it, and yet his depression was still able to strike. He hated himself, and he knew it. And yet, in his hundreds of years worth of travels, he hadn’t found any sort of cure for it. Just get up and keep walking, leave everything behind and start again. Maybe that’s what he ought to do. Leave this and start over again. Abandon this life behind and start another one… 

He dropped his pen and journal in his lap, resting his head in his hands as a tight feeling grew in his chest. He always hated when moments like this happened, when his weaknesses shattered the confident persona he wore. Six’s true fears and doubts taking over him, clouding his mind and altering his judgement. And in moments like this, he really wished that he was capable of dying so he could put himself out of his misery. 

No human being should have to go through the things he had. No one should have this much blood on their hands, have seen as many travesties as him, have lost as much as he had. Every time he built up a new life for himself, it would all inevitably get taken away. Sure, he got to build it back up again, but was it really worth knowing that it would all be gone one day? Maybe that’s why he preferred the nuclear wasteland; nothing ever really lasted, and most shared this same mindset with him. A cynical, melancholy world where it was rare to live past age thirty. So many different things to kill you, from radiation poisoning, to bloodthirsty raiders, to mutated monstrosities, to the wasteland itself. The Mojave desert region was particularly harsh and cruel, and it was the place Six considered home. 

He pitied Genji for having to see it all through the soul gaze. It was Six’s idea, too, and just to prove a stupid point. He knew that Genji had nightmares about what he saw in the soul gaze, and he knew that they would never really go away. He always had them, and anyone who looked into his mind in any way did, too. Maybe he should just blindfold himself. Keep his eyes from everyone’s view, even his own. No, then people would want to know why he covers his eyes. People always ask questions they shouldn’t, he had learned. Especially about him and his magic. He understood why, of course. He had had similar questions as an apprentice. And he had regretted learning the answers. At least they would die someday. 

“Ah, here you are.” Genji’s voice broke his line of thought, causing Six to glance absentmindedly over at his partner. “I’ve been looking for you.”

The Courier gave a half hearted smile, shutting the journal but not moving any further. Genji strode across the room through the rows of seats to take his place at Six’s side. He instantly knew something was up based on Six’s body language and the melancholy look in his eye. Removing his visor and setting it on one of the other seats, he took one of Six’s hands in both of his. 

“What’s wrong? You have that look again.” He asked, voice soft. 

Six sighed through his nose, looking at the journal in his lap. 

“Nothing’s wrong, baby. Just thinking ‘s all.” Six muttered, feeling awful about lying to Genji in a moment like this. The Shimada shook his head. 

“No, I know you well enough to know something is wrong. Talk to me, maybe I can help.”

Six let out a short laugh by exhaling through his nose, a bittersweet smile taking his features. A brief moment of silence passed before the Courier spoke.

“You ever stop to think about my life? All the shit I’ve done?” He mused, voice low and melancholy. “It’s something no human should ever experience, and yet I have. Breaking the course of nature right here.”

“Six…No, Cecil.” Genji whispered. 

Oh boy, Genji was bringing out the real name. This wasn’t good. 

“Are you doubting yourself again?” Wow. Hit the nail on the head right away. 

Six sighed deeply and nodded, wrapping his hand around the edge of his journal absentmindedly. Genji’s brows furrowed together in concern, and he moved one of his hands to Six’s chin to make the Courier look at him. 

“Genji, you saw everything in the soul gaze. You have to suffer right along with me; don’t even pretend you don’t have nightmares about it. I’ve seen ‘em happen.” He sighed again, leaning into his partner’s touch. “God, I shouldn’t even exist.”

“Hey, stop that.” Genji’s voice was quiet but firm. He’d had thoughts like this before. “Do we need to go get Zenyatta? He is a great help in moments like this.”

“No. No point in roping in someone else into this bullshit.” 

“Six, we’re your friends. We’re here to help you-” 

“Genji, I’ve heard that sentence a thousand times before.” Six cut him off, though he never raised the volume of his tone. “It never really works, and you know it.”

“Cecil. Listen to me.” His voice became more stern, causing Six to meet him in the eye again. “I know that the life you’ve lived is hard, but I’m here to do all I can to help you. I love you.”

“You give so much, yet take so little.” Six chuckled bitterly. “Almost hard to believe that snobby playboy I met in Hanamura is the same selfless ass in front of me, now.” 

Genji smiled. “I have learned a lot of hard lessons since then.”

“Don’t I know it.” Six’s smile then faded, and an empty look took its place. 

“Is there anything I can do to help?” 

Six shook his head. “Unless you can find a way to kill me permanently, I doubt it. But you being here is a comfort.”

Genji wordlessly pulled Six forward, shutting his eyes and planting a soft kiss on the broken Courier’s lips. Six’s were chapped, a sign he hadn’t been taking care of himself. However, the Courier still melted into the embrace, resting a hand over the one cupping his lower jaw and kissing back with full force. The kiss remained short, in case anyone came in. Genji was always paranoid of that. The two kept their eyes closed and rested their foreheads together, breathless. Six hesitated for a brief moment before speaking again. 

“I love you, you know.” He said, barely above his breath. 

“言葉であなたへの愛じょうは言い表せられない (Words can’t describe my love for you…)” 

Six smiled, the miniscule gesture hardly visible. The pair opened their eyes, and Genji noticed that Six had lowered the spell over his eyes. Vibrant navy blue met his warm brown, and a grin broke out on his scarred face. 

“I always love seeing your eyes. The real ones.” He whispered, running the back of his hand over Six’s cheek. 

“Well worth the long wait, right?”

“Most definitely. Every part of you was.”

“Worth all the sleepless nights worrying? The never-ending nightmares?”

“I would walk through fire for you. I died thinking of you, my love. I’m willing to do anything for the chance to stay by your side, especially after having thought you were gone for so many years.” 

Six chuckled. “You’re such a sap.”

“You made me one.” 

“Suppose I did. Took some rich playboy and turned him into the sweetest damned thing in the world. ‘M surprised I don’t get a cavity each time I kiss you.”

Genji laughed softly. “You’re such a tease.”

“Like you’re one to talk, walking around looking like that.”

The Shimada smiled before it slowly faded. “We’re getting off track. You’re in need of help, Cecil. Perhaps seeing Zenyatta would be a good thing right now.”

Six shook his head. “Nah. These moods happen sometimes. Always manage to get through ‘em on my own. It’s enough to have you here.”

“If you insist. But, if you’re just going to ride this out, then perhaps we should go back to our room and lie down.”

“Probably a good idea. Alright, Mr. Shimada. Lead the way.” Six stood, journal and pen in one hand, Genji’s in the other as the two walked back to their shared quarters. They had decided to share a room a few months into Six joining Overwatch, a decision neither one regretted. Six tucked the journal into the void backpack, trusting the air spirits within to organize it with the rest of his things, before he turned to where Genji had nestled himself in the bed. The cyborg moved the sheets so that Six could make his way in easily. The Courier kicked off the sneakers he had on and pulled off his jeans, exposing his cybernetic legs before he crawled in next to his love. In this moment, the only sounds were that of their breathing and the small fan Six had going constantly in the corner. Their eyes shut as they curled into each other, lying on their sides face to face. Six’s insecurities washed away, just for a little while, as he held Genji in his arms. Nothing could take this away from him.

Yep. He would be staying with Overwatch a little while longer.


End file.
